Effect of fumaric acid on diet digestibility and the caecal environment of growing rabbits.

摘要

The inclusion of two doses of fumaric acid (5 and 10 g per kg; LFA and HFA) in a diet for growing rabbits was compared with a subtherapeutic dose of zinc Bacitracin (25 ppm; BAC) and a control (CTL) in terms of apparent nutrient digestibility and caecal environmental parameters. There were no differences between the average fumaric diets and CTL and BAC on total tract apparent digestibility of dry matter (DMD) and organic matter (OMD), but a positive response to the dose of the acidifier was observed (P=0.05 and 0.07). However, the digestibility of neutral detergent fibre was not affected by treatments (P>0.10). There was a trend (P=0.09) for a higher microbial N intake as caecotrophes in diets including fumaric acid. This effect increased when the fumaric acid dose was doubled. Although no differences among treatments were detected in total caecal bacterial counts, amylolytic bacterial concentration tended to be higher with fumaric diets than with BAC (P=0.08)..