THE EFFECT OF CHITINOUS MATERIALS ON THE INTESTINAL MICROFLORA AND THE UTILIZATION OF WHEY IN MONOGASTRIC ANIMALS

Previous animal nutritional studies have shown that the utilization of whey may be improved if the diet contains small amounts of chitinous material. This improvement was attributed to the change in the intestinal microflora brought about by the chitinous supplement. This study is an attempt to find out whether diet manipulation can modify the bacterial population in the chicken gut. Two replicate nutritional experiments were performed each of which contained 11 groups of one-day-old broiler chicks. The various isonitrogenous/isocaloric diet treatments received ethyl-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine glycoside (ethyl-GlcNAc glycoside), chitin, and/or Bifidobacteria inoculum, and whey. After feeding for a minimum of 10 days, 3 out of 5 birds per group were sacrificed, intestinal samples collected, cultured on a selective medium, and isolated cultures were biochemically characterized.