Book of

abStracts
17TH INTERNATIONAL
SYMPOSIUM OF
BIOLOGY AND
ANIMAL NUTRITION

September 29th 2023, INCDBNA Balotesti, Romania

17th International Symposium of Biology and Animal

Nutrition

BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

September 29th 2023

INCDBNA IBNA Balotesti, Romania
 28
17th International Symposium of Animal Biology and Nutrition

Dietary effect of microencapsulated probiotics on growth performances, health status,

intestinal morphology and microflora in weaning piglets
Nicoleta Aurelia Lefter1, Mihaela Hăbeanu2, Anca Gheorghe2, Mihaela Dumitru1*, Georgeta
Ciurescu1, Petru Alexandru Vlaicu1, Claudiu Gal3
1
National Research Development Institute for Biology and Animal Nutrition, Laboratory of
Animal Nutrition and Biotechnology, Calea Bucuresti, no. 1, Balotesti, 077015 Romania;
2
Research Station for Sericulture, Baneasa, 013685 Bucharest, Romania;
3
Synevovet Laboratory, Chiajna, 077040 Romania;
*Corresponding author: mihaela.dumitru@ibna.ro
The aim of the study was to test the effects of microencapsulated probiotics on growth
performances, health status, intestinal morphology and microflora of weaning piglets. A total of
160 weaners, 8.52±0.15 kg body weight, aged 28 ± 3 days were divided into four groups of 40
animals each (4 replicates with 10 individuals each) for 21 days. The control group (CON) received
a basal diet without probiotics, while the experimental groups were supplemented with 1 × 108
CFU/g of L. acidophilus (LA), 3 × 108 CFU/g of L. plantarum (LP) and a diet containing 1.1%
mix of L. acidophilus and L. plantarum (LA+LP). At the end of the trial the production
performances, such as body weight (BW), average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain
(ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) were evaluated. Blood biochemical parameters from the
plasma metabolic profile (lipid, protein, enzyme, and mineral) were determined. To evaluate the
effect of dietary probiotics on intestinal morphology and microbiota, at the end of the trial, 8
animals per group were slaughtered and samples of duodenum, jejunum and ileum segments and
intestinal content were collected. The results showed that the experimental groups performed better
in terms of ADFI (P=0.014), ADG (P=0.091) and FCR (P=0.018) than the CON group. No effects
(p>0.05) on biochemical parameters among treatments were noticed, which revealed that the tested
supplements did not alter the health status. The tested probiotics, particularly the LA+LP diet
increased (p<0.05) the jejunum and ileum villus length and width, crypt length, total villi and crypt
length as well as their ratio compared with the control. In conclusion, microencapsulated
probiotics, particularly the combination of L. plantarum and L. acidophilus strains, had no
significant influence on growth performances and biochemical plasma parameters. However, they
were able to maintain a favourable equilibrium of the gut microbiota diversity with beneficial
effects on piglets’ health.
Keywords: L. acidophilus; L. plantarum; microencapsulated probiotics; performance; piglets’
health, weaning piglets’
Acknowledgement: This research was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Romania (grant ADER 8.1.7) and by the Romanian Ministry of Research,
Innovation, and Digitalization (grant 8 PFE/2021).