EFFECT OF NATURAL SYNBIOTIC CONSORTIUM ON BROILER MEAT QUALITY

Synbiotics are synergistic combinations of prebiotics and probiotics. This study was aimed to design synbiotic in vitro and validate them in broiler chickens upon in vivo delivery. Based on the in vitro assays and extracellular assays for estimation of the antioxidant potential, a scoring system was evaluated to screen the probiotic isolated with maximum antioxidant potential. A consortium of probiotic bacteria was formulated based on the scoring system that comprised E. hirae-2, E. faecium-2, E. fecalis-1, E. durans, and P. acidilactici. The probiotic inoculum was scaled up in a fifty-liter pilot scale fermenter supplemented with MRS broth under optimum growth conditions. The product was then spray-dried in a low-temperature spray drier. The lyophilized product was stored at room temperature for further use. Two hundred and forty day sold broiler chicks (Vencobb) were randomly allotted to one of five treatments (prebiotic alone, probiotic alone, symbiotic, and commercial probiotic and control treatments) on the basis of body weight in a randomized complete block design. Dietary supplementation of probiotics significantly enhanced growth performance by improving body weight gain, performance index, and protein efficiency ratio. Growth performance and nutrient retention of the Lactiflora-supplemented group was significantly better than that of the control and Provisacc-supplemented group but comparable to the combination group. It was concluded that combined supplementation of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplementation at the rate of 0.05% each is beneficial in improving body weight gain, growth performance, nutrient utilization, and immune response of broiler chicken.