Standardized Natural Citrus Extract supplementation influences sows’ microbiota welfare and piglets’ performances

In 2020, Doctor Sekhou Cisse (Nor-Feed, R&D Team) published a peer review article, in Transnational Animal Science journal, about the effect of the Standardized Natural Citrus Extract (SNCE; Nor-Spice AB®, Nor-Feed SAS, France) on the microbiota of the sows and on the weight gain of their piglets. Fifty sows were randomly divided into two groups: a control group (23 sows) with a standard diet and a SNCE group (27 sows) with a standard diet supplemented with 2,500 ppm of SNCE. Supplementation occurred 10 days before and 5 days after farrowing. Fecal samples from 16 sows (8 randomly selected sows of each dietary treatment) were collected for the fecal microbiota analysis 5 days after farrowing. The SNCE supplementation  increases the amount of cultivable Lactobacillus threefold in vitro. Microbial DNA was extracted from the fecal samples for sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The SNCE, which affected the microbiota as a discriminant analysis, was able to separate the microbial communities of the eight sows that received SNCE from the three control sows with 21 Operational Taxonomic Units (area under the ROC curve = 96%). SNCE also reduced the interval between farrowing and the first dejection of the sow and increased their feed intake (P-value < 0.05). Furthermore, feeding the sows with SNCE improved the weight gain of the piglets in the first week of life. These results show that SNCE supplementation allows to enhance zootechnical performances of peripartum’ sows, possibly due to the modulation of the microbiota transmitted to the piglets.