The practice of supplementing direct fed microbial and prebiotic additives to domestic animals during growth is becoming more widespread in food animal production. Beneficial effects particularly in cattle, pigs and poultry including improved general health, foodborne pathogen reduction, more efficient food utilization, faster growth rate and increased milk and egg production continue to be reported. The success associated with direct fed microbial and prebiotic applications in multiple species ensures their continued commercialization and widespread use of such additives. However, several fundamental questions remain. It appears that early establishment and retention of an ecological balance in the gastrointestinal tract is an important first step for an external biological additive to be effective in young animals. Therefore, it is possible that the effectiveness of direct fed microbials and prebiotics in some animal species may only be an indirect consequence of speeding up the establishment of the dominant microflora characteristic of the adult gastrointestinal tract. Consequently an understanding of the key processes during establishment of microflora in the gastrointestinal system that lead to the subsequent fermentation characteristics and ecological balance exhibited by the highly protective microflora is needed. Identifying these processes in a bound volume should lead to continued improvement in the effectiveness of available commercial products. Several additional areas of future research directions are also likely needed for further development and implementation of these biologicals.
"The book...concisely describes recent advances in the use of probiotics and prebiotics in animal husbandy." - Koen Venema, Editor-in-Chief,
Beneficial Microbes
