Effects of increasing levels of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on digestibility, fecal fermentation and immunological parameters in diets for adult cats

Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast are considered important raw materials in animal nutrition due their prebiotic capacity. Prebiotics are compounds not digested by animal organism, but are fermented by microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract, which products are capable of providing benefits to the host. The fermentation depends on factors such as: substrate used for growth, fermentation method, way and drying condition and age of the cells. Thus, modern production processes have the objective of producing yeast with high prebiotic potential. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of yeast with active metabolites (LSC) based on the fermentation of specific substrates on apparent digestibility of diet nutrients, microbiota and fecal fermentation products and immunological parameters in adult cats. Twenty seven male or female cats with mean weight of 4.19 ± 0.83kg and mean age of 9.44 ± 5.35 years were used and distributed in an unbalanced randomized block design (age), consisting of three experimental treatments, DC (control diet), LSC 0.3 (control diet with 0.3% yeast with active metabolites) and LSC 0.6 (control diet with 0.6% yeast with active metabolites). The results were analyzed using the computer program Statistical Analysis System (SAS Institute Inc., 2004), with significance level of p<0.05 and the averages compared by Tukey test. The inclusion of the additive only changed the apparent digestibility of crude fiber and mineral content (p<0.05). Regarding the fermentation products and microbiota of feces, there was a reduction in lactic acid (p=0,0040) and Clostridium perfringens (p=0,0226) with inclusion of prebiotic and decreased of isovalerate (p=0,0144) in the LSC 0.3 treatment. It can be concluded that the additive, in the levels of inclusion assessed, seems to have prebiotic potential on fecal fermentation products and microbiota (AU)