Probiotics application in poultry industry: From feed to meat

Abstract

Probiotics as a potential substitute for antibiotics in animal farm especially poultry industry has become an area of great interest. The use of antibiotics in poultry farming results in presence of antibiotics residue in poultry product and may consequently affecting human health by developing pathogenic microbes to be drug-resistance. In addition to that, poultry are normally grown in dense population for economic efficiency which caused stress and disturbance in the intestinal microbiota of the poultry. This will lead to lower immune system of the poultry against diseases. Therefore, the use of probiotics is an alternative method to cater these challenges in poultry farming. This increase attention toward probiotic supplementation has generated an extensive body of research in the present day. However, there is still a lot of debate in scientific literature regarding the significant effect of probiotic on immune system against specific pathogens and growth performance in poultry. Taking into account the immune response and performance research work, this review provides a summary on the mode of actions and the potential application of probiotics in the growth performance of poultry, with critical evaluation of the recent published works.