Gut microflora and intestinal morphology of commercial broiler chickens and Red Jungle Fowl fed diets containing palm kernel meal Darmmikroflora und Darmmorphologie von kommerziellen Broilern und roten Dschungel- hühnern bei Fütterung mit Palmkernmehl

The normal microflora in the gut has been shown to play a major role in the digestion and absorption of nutrients in poultry (COATES et al., 1975). These organisms metabolize both dietary and endogenous residues and, have bacterial action in the large intestine, which is beneficial for the syntheses of vitamin B and vitamin K (MCDONALD et al., 1995). Although the main mechanisms regulating the equilibrium of microbial ecology in the gut are still poorly understood, diet has been shown to be one of the major factors in influencing microbial activity in the gastrointestinal tract of birds (JENSEN, 1993). Studies have shown that non-starch polysaccharides may have profound influence on gut microflora population and activity in the gastrointestinal tract in chicken (CHOCT et al., 1996) and in geese (HSU et al., 1996). Birds fed diet containing 0.4% sweet lupin seed meal enhanced the growth of lactic acid fermenting bacteria in the gut (RUBIO et al., 1998). Increasing the population of intestinal microbial flora using a live microbial food supplements, such as probiotic (FULLER, 1989) has been documented to improve the growth rate of birds. Inclusion of fibre components in the diet exerts an impact on gastrointestinal physiology (LOW, 1985; CHERBUT et al., 1990; MOSENTHIN et al., 1994). LOW (1985) reported that increased fibre components in the diet subsequently increased feed intake and digestive secretions, such as enzymes produced by microorganism which inhabited the gastrointestinal tract. In poultry, fibre fermentation occurs in the caeca, crop and lower gastrointestinal tract (ANNISON et al., 1968; BAYER et al., 1975). Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), such as Lactobacillus sp. and Streptococcus sp., has been reported to be the normal flora of gastrointestinal tract, which ferment carbohydrates or starch to produce lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide as an end product (HARLEY and PRESCOTT, 1993). Lactic acid reduces the pH of the gut and thereby inhibits the growth