Live yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii) supplementation in fattening rabbit diet: Effect on productive performance and meat quality

The effects of dietary supplementation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii (CNCM I-1079 strain, LSB) at 0, 300 and 600 mg/kg on apparent digestibility, growth performance, caecal fermentation, carcass characteristics and meat quality of broiler rabbits were studied from 37 to 84 days of age. One hundred and fifty New Zealand White rabbits were single housed and randomly allotted into three groups. Animals were fed isocaloric and isonitrogenous basal diets ad libitum, supplemented with different levels of concentrated live yeast LSB (0, 3×106 and 6×106 colony forming unit (CFU)/g diet, respectively). Protected LSB was resistant to the pelleting process and to passage through the rabbit digestive tract as far as the caecum, where it showed an 86% survival rate in the 600 mg/kg supplementation level group. Significant differences were found only for the fibrous fractions digestibility that were lowest (P=0.001) in the animals fed 300 mg/kg supplemented diet, while yeast and mould populations in the caecum increased (P=0.001) in the animals fed 300 and 600 mg/kg supplemented diets (4.16 and 4.76 log CFU/g, respectively). Mortality did not differ amongst dietary treatments being 10%, 8% and 6% for groups fed LSB at 0, 300 and 600 mg/kg, respectively.