Impact of fortification of diets with probiotic, prebiotic and fermented soybean meal on performance, intestinal morphology, and Salmonella population in broiler chickens challenged with Salmonella typhimurium

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of fortification of diets with probiotic and prebiotic with fermented soybean meal on performance, intestinal morphology and Salmonella population in broiler chickens exposed to Salmonella typhimurium. A total of 450 Ross 308 broiler chickens were allocated into 5 experimental treatments with 6 replicates of chicks each using a completely randomized design. Experimental treatments included: 1) basal diet (corn and soybean meal) without exposure to salmonella (negative control), 2) basal diet and exposed to Salmonella (positive control), 3) basal diet plus 0.02% probiotic, 4) basal diet plus 0.2% prebiotic and 5) diet containing fermented soybean meal. The results showed that in compared to positive control group, feeding diets containing probiotic, prebiotic and fermented soybean meal significantly improved performance parameters in challenged chicks (P <0.05). At d 7 and 14 post-challenge, the percentage of contamination in probiotic, prebiotic, and fermented soybean meal treatments were less than positive control treatment. Villus height and villus height ratio to crypt depth in duodenum and jejunum of positive control group were lower compared with other challenged groups (p < 0.05). Therefore, fermented soybean meal due to having a similar role to probiotics and prebiotics in controlling salmonella contamination, could be considered as a functional protein source in broiler chickens feeding.