Lyophilisation of Probiotic Bacteria for Inclusion in Poultry Feed

Probiotics are extensively used in animal nutrition to improve feed conversion parameters, to boost the immune response and ultimately to improve animal health and welfare. The aim of our study was to obtain a lyophilised product for use as supplement in poultry feeding and to determine the optimal concentration required for inclusion in feed. In our experiment we have used the following human isolated probiotic bacteria: Lactococcus lactis CMGB 31, Lactobacillus paracasei CMGB 18, Lactococcus lactis CMGB 33, Lactobacillus rhamnosus CMGB 34 and Lactococcus lactis CMGB 32. The strains were preserved by freezing at - 80ºC. After lyophilisation, using skimmed milk and MRS mixture as preservative and MRS broth as growth media the recorded concentration was of 1·109 CFU/g lyophilized product. This product can now be used as probiotic supplement in poultry feed at a concentration of 1 g/kg feed.