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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2013

Abstract

The feed ingredients affect the microbiota in the intestinal tract by stimulating or inhibiting the growth of certain groups of bacteria. This effect might thereby have positive impacts on the health and welfare of animals as well as on growth, milk and meat quality. The effects of seaweed products on the gut microbiota were studied. Organic and aqueous extracts from six macroalgae species collected in the Northern Norway (Polysiphonia lanosa, Corallina officinalis, Palmaria palmata, Mastocarpus stellatus, Laminaria hyperborea, Ascophyllum nodosum) were tested on the growth of Enterococcus sp. and Escherichia coli isolated from healthy sheep using Minimum Inhibitory Concentration methodology. The effect of the extracts on the bacterial growth depended both on the type of bacteria and the algae extract. The results showed that the bacterial growth for the organic extracts followed a linear model, whereas the aqueous extracts followed a non-linear model. Yet, the growth of the Enterococcus sp. isolates for the organic extracts from the brown algae A. nodosum followed a non-linear model, with the largest inhibiting effect on the bacterial growth at the lowest concentrations. This effect has great interest in relation to potential treatment for nosocomial infections caused by antibiotic resistant Enterococcus sp.