Table 1_Dietary supplementation with Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus velezensis improves growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immunity and intestinal microbiota in growing-finishing pigs.docx

This study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation with Lactobacillus plantarum QZF (10¹¹ CFU/d), Bacillus velezensis BD01 (10¹² CFU/d) or their combination on growth performance, serum biochemistry, antioxidant capacity, immunity and gut microbiota in growing pigs.</p>Methods<p>A total of 160 growing Landrace × Yorkshire gilts were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: CON (basal diet), SPL (basal diet supplemented with L. plantarum fermentation broth), SPB (basal diet supplemented with B. velezensis fermentation broth), and DP (basal diet supplemented with both strains fermentation broth).

Each group consisted of 40 pigs (8 replicates of 5 pigs), and the experiment lasted 47 days.</p>Results<p>The SPB and DP groups showed significantly higher average daily gain and serum total protein than CON group, attributed to the main effect of B. velezensis (p_(B) < 0.01). The SPL, SPB, and DP groups showed significant increases in serum total cholesterol, free fatty acids and urea nitrogen (p_(L) < 0.01 for TC and FFA; p_(L) < 0.01, p_(B) < 0.01, and p_{(L × B)} < 0.01 for BUN).