Piglets’ Intestinal Microflora Fed with a Plants Mix

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a plant mix (bilberry, black currant, quince, peppermint and fennel essential oil) inclusion into the diets of piglets (18-45 kg) on intestinal microflora equilibrium. An experiment was performed on 8 castrated hybrid TOPIGS (18.69±1.25 kg) divided in 2 groups (C and E). The piglets were kept in an experimental house in individual metabolic cages. Compared to the conventional diet (18% crude protein and 3214 kcal/kg metabolic energy) of group C, the diet of E group had included 789 mg mixture of plants/kg feed. At the final of the experiment the piglets were slaughtered and digesta samples were collected from jejunum and ileum for microbiological analysis. For jejunum, a significant (P<0.05) decrease of Staphylococci spp. (log10 CFU/g) concentration in E group was noticed correlated strongly negative with a statistically significant (P<0.05) increasing concentration of Lactobacillus spp. (log10 CFU/g) concentration. The results were similar for ileum. This dietary mixture of plants had some effects on microbial population of piglets’ jejunum and ileum to help positively the intestinal changes of microbiota.