The main objective of this work has been to design a new strategy for identifying suitable, orally administered, natural treatments that will promote growth in weaning piglets. An in vivo screening of putative probiotic and prebiotic candidates was carried out to identify those candidates with the best ability to positively modify the piglet gut ecosystem. The diet of the weaning piglets was then supplemented with the identified probiotics and/or synbiotics, and the dose– response effects on microflora composition and intestinal tolerance were assessed. It was found that the in vivo screening procedure could be a helpful tool to identify bifidobacteria strains as putative probiotic candidates for the weaning piglet. The data show that the two different strains of bifidobacteria (R18 and Su 891), which have similar ability in improving the count of hindgut bifidobacteria, do not influence piglet growth performance in the same way. The variation in the effects of the strains underlines the advantage of using probiotic combinations as a synergistic mixture, providing a complementary effect on animal health and increasing the possibility of the probiotics to colonize the gut, albeit transiently.

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