Bamboo is an abundant plant resource with potential for use as an unconventional feed ingredient; however, its application in animal production remains relatively limited. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of partially replacing the basal diet with fermented bamboo powder (FBP) on the growth performance, slaughter traits, meat quality, serum biochemical parameters, antioxidant status, immune-related parameters, and intestinal digestive enzyme activities of yellow-feathered broilers. Two-year-old bamboo was used as the raw material and subjected to microbial fermentation for 14 d, followed by drying and sieving to obtain FBP. A total of 480 one-day-old yellow-feathered broilers were randomly assigned to four dietary treatment groups, with six replicate cages per treatment and 20 birds per cage. The control group received a basal diet, whereas the experimental groups received diets in which 0.5%, 1.0%, or 1.5% of the basal diet was replaced with FBP. The feeding trial lasted 56 d. During the starter phase, dietary FBP replacement significantly increased final body weight and average daily gain (ADG). During the grower phase, final body weight and ADG increased with increasing FBP inclusion levels. Over the entire experimental period, the overall treatment effect on ADG was not statistically significant, whereas dietary replacement with 1.0% and 1.5% FBP significantly reduced the feed-to-gain ratio (F/G) (p < 0.05). FBP replacement also significantly reduced abdominal fat percentage and increased breast muscle redness (a*) at 24 h postmortem (p < 0.05). Serum triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) concentrations decreased, whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations increased in FBP-fed broilers (p < 0.05). Regarding antioxidant and immune-related parameters, FBP significantly affected catalase (CAT) activity, total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity, and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (p < 0.05). CAT activity was highest in the 1.0% FBP group, whereas serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) concentrations were significantly higher in the 1.0% and 1.5% FBP groups than in the control group (p < 0.05); the 0.5% group did not differ significantly from the control. No significant effects were observed on organ indices or intestinal digestive enzyme activities (p > 0.05). In conclusion, partial replacement of the basal diet with FBP improved feed conversion efficiency and was associated with reduced abdominal fat deposition and favorable changes in selected serum lipid, antioxidant, and immune-related parameters. Although phase-specific improvements in growth performance were observed, overall ADG did not differ significantly among dietary treatments. These findings suggest that FBP has potential as a partial substitute for conventional feed ingredients in yellow-feathered broiler diets. Further studies are needed to confirm these effects and establish the optimal inclusion level under different production conditions.
Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) was fermented with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum DHCU 70 to develop a cereal-based matrix for microbial encapsulation. A re-parameterized modified logistic model was fitted to viable cell growth data to identify a fermentation harvest interval associated with high cell density and fermentation-metabolite accumulation. Based on the composite desirability analysis, desirability was maximal at 17.5 h and remained on a plateau (D ≥ 0.97) from 17 to 22 h; a harvest interval of 18.0 to 20.5 h within its plateau was selected, during which viable counts reached 9.15 to 9.25 log CFU mL−1 and total measured organic acids were 27.9 to 28.7 g L−1 (maximum 29.9 g L−1 at 17.5 h). The selected fermented matrix, containing viable cells, residual soluble carbohydrate fractions and constituents derived from fermentation was incorporated into calcium-alginate–gelatin microbeads with 0.8 to 1.2 mm diameters. The bead formulation showed high retention of viable cells and measured fermentation-derived constituents during encapsulation. Under sequential simulated oral, gastric and intestinal conditions, the Ca-alginate–millet–gelatin formulation retained 6.45 log CFU mL−1, compared with 3.45 log CFU mL−1 for free cells, corresponding to a lower viability loss for encapsulated cells. FTIR analysis showed retention of characteristic hydroxyl, carboxylate and spectral bands associated with carbohydrates following encapsulation. Relative to the non-encapsulated fermented matrix, microbeads showed reduced amylolysis during the applied in vitro assays. Lyophilised microbeads exhibited a water activity of 0.40 ± 0.02, hygroscopicity of 56 ± 2.26% and 71.66 ± 26.30% rehydration after 10 min. The selection of the harvest time for encapsulation was guided by fermentation kinetics and metabolite profiles of the fermented matrix. The resulting alginate–gelatin microbeads improved the survival of Lpb. plantarum DHCU 70 relative to free cells under simulated gastrointestinal conditions tested. The formulation provides a cereal-based platform for further development of fermented functional food delivery systems.
Mushroom mycelium is gaining attention as a sustainable protein source because it can be produced reliably through submerged fermentation and has a low environmental impact. In this study, we investigated the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of plant-based (PB) patties formulated with Lentinula edodes mycelium (LM) and pork backfat at respective levels of 15/0, 10/5, 5/10, and 0/15% (w/w, wet basis), based on the total formulation weight, and compared them with pork patties. Proximate composition analysis showed that the PB patty treatments had lower fat content (0–10.68%) than the control (p < 0.05). The water-holding capacity of the treatment groups was approximately 1.8 times that of the control (p < 0.05). The treatment groups exhibited generally lower texture profile values compared to the control. Electronic nose analysis showed that higher LM inclusion was generally associated with greater peak intensities for tentatively assigned volatile compounds, including ethanol, dimethyl sulfide, ethyl acetate, 3-methylbutanal, and hexanal. Electronic tongue analysis results showed that sourness and umami increased as the LM content increased. Sensory evaluation revealed no significant differences in overall acceptability among the treatments (p > 0.05). These results suggest the feasibility of developing low-fat plant-based patty formulations using LM.
Regional assessments of livestock manure often treat excreted organic matter as available feedstock and methane volume as an unequivocal climate benefit. This study builds a four-level resource cascade (theoretical, collectable, recoverable, and deployment-constrained methane) for 20 Latin American countries from 2024 FAOSTAT inventories of cattle, pigs, and poultry with IPCC-consistent parameters, and evaluates each level across energy, exergy, nitrogen, and climate. The theoretical envelope of 73.88 × 109 m3 CH4 a−1 contracts by 82.1% to 13.22 recoverable and to a deployment corridor of 6.74 (95% interval 5.05–9.27); cattle fall from 85.4% of the theoretical to 32.5% of the recoverable resource, whereas poultry rises to 40.4%, a share conditional on controlling ammonia inhibition. Energy and climate hierarchies diverge: pigs hold 27.1% of recoverable methane yet deliver all positive manure-management mitigation (+29.14 Mt CO2eq a−1 at 5% leakage), and the central net balance including grid displacement is +43.96 Mt CO2eq a−1, with a production-based break-even leakage of 15.00%. On an exergy-equivalent basis (81.52 TWhx a−1), recovered nitrogen (25.26 TWhx; 3.77 Mt N a−1) exceeds useful heat (10.24 TWhx). Monte Carlo propagation (20,000 iterations) identifies cattle collectability as the dominant resource uncertainty (Spearman ρs=0.774) and digester leakage as the dominant climate uncertainty (ρs=−0.613; 99.4% probability of positive management mitigation). Intensification scenarios raise recoverable methane to 16.97–20.73 × 109 m3 a−1 by 2035, and published techno-economic evidence shows that profitability depends on scale, incentives, and coproducts. Abundance, recoverability, climate effectiveness, and economic viability are four distinct quantities that must be evaluated jointly.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic non-specific gut inflammatory disease. Conventional treatments are insufficient to support long-term disease remission, so there is an urgent need to search for new IBD treatment options. This study evaluated the alleviation effect of Lactobacillus (L.) helveticus H9 on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis rats. We found that administering L. helveticus H9 significantly reduced DAI (disease activity index) scores (p ≤ 0.05), spleen weights (p ≤ 0.05), and colonic tissue damage in the colitis rats, while increasing the body weight gain rate. Compared with the DSS group, L. helveticus H9-receiving rats had less serum tumor necrosis factor-α (p ≤ 0.05) and interleukin-1β (p < 0.01), a higher gut microbiota diversity, and significantly more Alistipes senegalensis (p ≤ 0.05) and Parabacteroides distasonis (p < 0.01). On the metabolomics level, 65 significantly differential metabolites (VIP > 1, p < 0.05, fold change > 2 or <0.5) were identified between the probiotic and DSS groups. Some significantly enriched pathways were identified in the fecal metabolome of the probiotic group, including Sphingolipid metabolism, Linoleic acid metabolism, alpha-Linolenic acid metabolism, Arachidonic acid metabolism, Glycerophospholipid metabolism, Pyrimidine metabolism, Tryptophan metabolism, Fatty acid biosynthesis and Steroid hormone biosynthesis metabolic pathways, and lecithin is an important differential metabolite interconnecting several of the enriched pathways. In summary, administering L. helveticus H9 modulated the gut microbiota, metabolome, and host immune response, which could relate to symptom alleviation in the colitis rats. Our study provides interesting data regarding the use of probiotics in managing chronic colitis.
