Effect of the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on apparent digestibility in horses diet

Abstract

In order to evaluate the effect of supplementation of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) on an apparent digestibility in horses fed with high ratio concentrate: roughage diet (HC), eight Minihorses were used: male geldings, mainly 36-months old, with an initial average weight of 113±12 kg. The diet was composed of 70% concentrate pellets and 30% grass hay, with different levels of SC included: 0 g (control), 10 g, 20 g, and 30 g of product concentration of 5×108 cfu/g. The experiment consisted of 15 days of adaptation to the diet, 5 days for data collection and 3 days interval between periods. The apparent digestibility of dietary nutrients were estimated by total faecal collection. The experimental design was a double 4×4 Latin square and data were subjected to analysis of variance and polynomial regression with a significance level of 5%. A quadratic effect was observed in the apparent digestibility of organic matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber and crude protein (P=0.0023, P=0.0334, P=0.0238, P=0.0224, respectively). However, differences were present between treatments including SC. Thus, the results suggest that the level of inclusion of yeast is able to alter the digestion of dietary components.