Evaluation of select novel dietary fiber-rich ingredients and their functionality in companion animal nutrition
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Regardless of the level of hemp seed inclusion, daily supplementation did not present any negative physiological effects in these healthy adult dogs.The hemp seed ingredient utilized in this study was confirmed to be devoid of, or have undetectable levels of select cannabinoids.The animals remained clinically healthy with no changes to normal blood chemistry or signs of gastrointestinal intolerance.Voluntary physical activity levels also did not differ among the groups (P > 0.05).The hemp seed inclusion chews had similar concentrations of insoluble dietary fiber as the cellulose control and resulted in similar levels of fecal fermentative endproducts and relative abundance of individual microbial taxa in the feces (P > 0.05).To characterize the similarities and differences in the gut microbial composition of dogs and cats and how they respond to various dietary fiber interventions, microbiota composition was analyzed from fecal samples collected during 4 feline and 4 canine feeding trials.These trials were completed to evaluate extruded kibble diets including 4 novel fiber sources, avocado meal, soybean hulls, sorghum, and miscanthus grass, and 3 traditionally utilized fiber containing ingredients in companion animal diets, cellulose, beet pulp, and corn.The treatment diets for the 4 sets of trials were consistent across both species, utilizing the same formula, ingredient sources, and processing methods.When comparing the 2 species overall, cats had a higher level of α-diversity compared with dogs (P < 0.05) and were also significantly different in terms of βdiversity (P < 0.05).Differentially abundant taxa for dogs included 23 families and 36 genera, primarily within the families Bacteroidaceae, Fusobacteriaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, and Lachnospiraceae.For cats, the differentially abundant taxa were more diverse, belonging to 27 families and 42 genera, including Atopobiaceae, Coriobacteriaceae, and Veillonellaceae which were unique to this species.Among the evaluated fiber sources, beet pulp resulted in the most variation and inclusion of unique differentially abundant taxa, especially in cats.v In conclusion, the novel fiber-rich ingredients, miscanthus grass and whole hemp seed, could be used as alternative sources of insoluble dietary fiber in canine nutrition.In dogs, the consumption of these fibrous ingredients did not result in detrimental effects to animal health, or fecal quality.Diets with a high inclusion of miscanthus grass were well digested, and no adverse physiological response was observed with the daily supplementation of ground, whole hemp seeds.Both ingredients were similar in fiber profile to the traditional dietary fiber source, cellulose, and feeding of these novel fiber sources resulted in similar outcomes in composition of gut microbial community and fecal fermentative end-product concentration as cellulose controls.In addition to providing dietary fiber, hemp seeds can also be a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids and highly digestible plant protein, although require complementary protein sources to prevent deficiencies in a complete and balanced diet for dogs and cats.Finally, while many similarities exist among the microbiome of dogs and cats, differences in response to dietary fiber interventions can be observed on multiple taxonomic levels, highlighting the need for data describing effective microbial modulation in species-specific models.vi
Author: Finet, Shannon E.
Language: English
Subfield: Animal Science and Zoology
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7220750914