The effects of bee pollen extracts on the broiler chicken’s gastrointestinal microflora

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of bee pollen ethanolic extracts on the in vivo gastrointestinal tract microflora colonization of broiler chickens. A completely randomized experiment based on six treatments (different concentrations of bee pollen – 0, 5, 15, 25, 35 and 45 g kg−1 diet) was used during 7 weeks. The highest count of faecal Enterococci was found in the experimental group with the addition of 15 g of pollen (8.85 ± 0.87 log CFU g−1) per 1 kg of feed mixture. The highest count of Lactobacilli was detected in the experimental group with 35 g of pollen per 1 kg of feed mixture and the highest number of the Enterobacteriaceae genera count was found in the control group (8.43 ± 0.15 log CFU g−1). Moreover, the MALDI TOF MS Biotyper identified the following genera: Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella oxytoca, as well as Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. crispatus, L. fermentum and L. salivarius from the Lactobacilli group and Enterococcus avium, E. casseliflavus, E. cecorum, E. faecalis, E. faecium, E. gallinarum, E. hirae and E. malodoratus from the Enterococci group. Additionally, the in vitro antimicrobial activities of pollen against five bacteria species isolated from gastrointestinal tracts of chickens were tested. The best antimicrobial effect of the pollen extract was detected against K. oxytoca.