Eggshell and environmental bacteria contribute to the intestinal microbiota of growing chickens

Background: The initial intestinal microbiota acquired from different sources has profound impacts on animal health and productivity. In modern poultry production practices, the source(s) of the establishing microbes and their overall contribution during development of gastrointestinal tract communities are still unclear. Using fertilized eggs from two independent sources, we assessed the impact of eggshell-and environmental-associated microbial communities on the successional processes and bacterial community structure throughout the intestinal tract of chickens for up to 6 weeks post-hatch.Results: Culturing and sequencing techniques identified a viable, highly diverse population of anaerobic bacteria on the eggshell. The jejunal, ileal, and cecal microbial communities for the egg-only, environment-only, and conventionally raised birds generally displayed similar successional patterns characterized by increasing community richness and evenness over time, with strains of Enterococcus, Romboutsia, and unclassified Lachnospiraceae abundant for all three input groups in both trials. Bacterial community structures differed significantly based on trial and microbiota input with the exception of the egg-exposed and conventional birds in the jejunum at week 1 and the ileum at week 6. Cecal community structures were different based on trial and microbiota input source, and cecal short-chain fatty acid profiles at week 6 highlighted functional differences as well.Conclusion: We identified distinct intestinal microbial communities and differing cecal short-chain fatty acid profiles between birds exposed to the microbiota associated with either the eggshell or environment, and those of conventionally hatched birds. Our data suggest the eggshell plays an appreciable role in the development of the chicken intestinal microbiota, especially in the jejunum and ileum where the community structure of the eggshellonly birds was similar to the structure of conventionally hatched birds. Our data identify a complex interplay between the eggshell and environmental microbiota during establishment and succession within the chicken gut.Further studies should explore the ability of eggshell-and environment-derived microbes to shape the dynamics of succession and how these communities can be targeted through interventions to promote gut health and mitigate food-borne pathogen colonization in poultry.

Improving the Nutritional Values of Wheat and Rice Crackers by Using Cauliflowers

The present study described the enhancement of the nutritional values of wheat and rice crackers by adding cauliflowers. The results showed that 25% - 75% cauliflower replaced in crackers increased the consumer acceptability, nutritional value, antioxidant activity, minerals, and anti-carcinogenic effect. Moreover, it also improved the functional properties and sensory quality. The results revealed that the raw samples of cauliflower recorded the highest value of moisture, ash, protein and fiber 89.29%, 7.68%, 19.04% and 10.18% on dry weight, respectively. The crackers formula of cauliflower: wheat 75%:25% and cauliflower: rice 75%:25% recorded the highest values in ash, protein, fat, and fiber. The data showed that increasing cauliflower percentage in crackers formula causing a parallel increase in all determined chemical composition. Cauliflower samples exhibited the highest antioxidant activity (92.94%). Also, crackers samples of cauliflower: wheat 75%:25% crackers, recorded 57.6% for antioxidant activity. The highest values of phenols and flavonoids for cauliflower cracker samples (cauliflower: wheat 75%:25% and cauliflower: rice 50%:50%) have increased up to (5.75 and 5.49) respectively. The results showed that the higher mineral content is the sulfur (635.96 mg/100g) in raw cauliflower, while (1.00 mg/100g, and 0.99 mg/100g sulfur content) in wheat and rice respectively. Moreover, the result found that as the cauliflower percentage increases, the minerals contents especially sulfur increase. Furthermore, the cauliflower displayed moderate activity for human hepatocellular carcinoma, colon cancer and intestinal epithelial barrier treatment, (IC50 = 183.4 ± 6.8, 175.8 ± 7.1 and 207.2 ± 8.5 μg/mL, respectively). There were significant differences in the taste property;the highest degree of acceptance of the taste was obtained to crackers samples which were replaced with cauliflower more than the control.