Adekolurejo, O.O.; McDermott, K.; Greathead, H.M.R.; Miller, H.M.; Mackie, A.R.; Boesch, C. Effect of Red-Beetroot-Supplemented Diet on Gut Microbiota Composition and Metabolite Profile of Weaned Pigs—A Pilot Study. Animals2023, 13, 2196.
Adekolurejo, O.O.; McDermott, K.; Greathead, H.M.R.; Miller, H.M.; Mackie, A.R.; Boesch, C. Effect of Red-Beetroot-Supplemented Diet on Gut Microbiota Composition and Metabolite Profile of Weaned Pigs—A Pilot Study. Animals 2023, 13, 2196.
Adekolurejo, O.O.; McDermott, K.; Greathead, H.M.R.; Miller, H.M.; Mackie, A.R.; Boesch, C. Effect of Red-Beetroot-Supplemented Diet on Gut Microbiota Composition and Metabolite Profile of Weaned Pigs—A Pilot Study. Animals2023, 13, 2196.
Adekolurejo, O.O.; McDermott, K.; Greathead, H.M.R.; Miller, H.M.; Mackie, A.R.; Boesch, C. Effect of Red-Beetroot-Supplemented Diet on Gut Microbiota Composition and Metabolite Profile of Weaned Pigs—A Pilot Study. Animals 2023, 13, 2196.
Abstract
Red beetroot, is a well-recognized and established source of bioactives (e.g., betalains and polyphenols) with anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. It is proposed as a potential alternative to zinc oxide, with a focus on gut microbiota modulation and metabolite production. In this study, weaned pigs aged 28-days were fed either a control diet, diet supplemented with zinc oxide (3,000 mg/kg), or 2% and 4% pulverized whole red beetroot (CON, ZNO, RB2 and RB4; respectively) for 14 days. After the pigs were euthanized, blood and digesta samples were collected for microbial composition and metabolite analyses. Results showed, red beetroot supplemented diet at 2% improved the gut microbial richness relative to other diets, but marginally influenced the caecal microbial diversity compared to zinc oxide supplemented diet. Further increase in red beetroot levels (4% -RB4) lead to loss of caecal diversity, decreased short chain fatty acids and secondary bile acid concentrations. An increased Proteobacteria abundance, presumably due to increased lactate/lactic acid producing bacteria was also observed. Summarily, red beetroot contains several components conceived to improve the gut microbiota and metabolite output of weaned pigs. Future studies investigating individual components in red beetroot will better elucidate their contributions to gut microbiota modulation and pig health.
Keywords
weaned pig; gut microbiota; red beetroot; short chain fatty acids; bile acids
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
,
,
,
