Role of probiotics in increasing meat and egg production in poultry: a review

Abstract

Antibiotics have been used as growth promotors to enhance poultry"s growth performance and feed efficiency. However, their use leads to various side effects like antimicrobial resistance (AMR), destruction of beneficial bacteria, and microbes in the gut, and dysbiosis with time. Various alternatives have been used over the years to overcome the poultry problems and these are necessarily required to replace antibiotics to prevent these side effects. Among alternatives, probiotics are the best option because of their unique pharmacological and therapeutic properties. They are living and nonpathogenic microbes that have health benefits for the host. In poultry diets, they are used as feed additives. They help in proper feed digestion to make beneficial nutrients available for more feed intake and faster growth. They play a significant role in the host by modulation of the host"s immune response thus protecting the host from many infections. They contribute to health by offering anti-mutagenic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-hypertensive, hypocholesterolemic, and immune-modulating effects. They help to enhance the production and quality of poultry meat and eggs. The selection of suitable probiotic strains is of great concern to achieve all optimal effects of probiotics. Therefore, this review explores probiotics, their properties, mode of action, and effects on commercial egg and meat production.

Keywords

• alternatives
• growth promotors
• immune-modulator
• hypocholesterolemic effects
• quality eggs
• meat