Growth performance, digestive function, thyroid activity, and immunity of growing rabbits fed olive cake with or without Saccharomyces cerevisiae or citric acid

The present study investigated the impact of dietary inclusion of olive cakes (OC) with or without Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) and citric acid (CA) on growth, digestive function, thyroid activity, antioxidant status, immunity, and intestinal architecture of growing rabbits.

One hundred forty 35-day-old male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly assigned into seven experimental groups with five replicates each, as follows: control (CN), fed the basal diet; OC20 and OC25, fed diets with 20 and 25% OC; OS20 and OS25, fed diets containing 20 and 25% OC with S. cerevisiae at 5 g/kg diet; OA20 and OA25, fed diets supplemented with 20 and 25% OC with 1.0% citric acid.

No differences in live body weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and carcass traits were noticed among experimental groups, while body weight gain and carcass (%) were increased ( P  < 0.05) in OS20 compared to the control.

Digestibility coefficients of all nutrients and activities of amylase, cellulose, and trypsin did not differ in treated groups compared to the control except for OS20, which recorded enhancement in nutrient digestibility.

Plasma triiodothyronine and thyroxine were elevated ( P  < 0.05), while triglycerides and cholesterol were reduced ( P  < 0.05) in OS20 compared to CN.

Plasma concentrations of immunoglobulin M and G and superoxide dismutase were increased in treated groups compared to the control.

Dietary inclusion of SC and CA improved rabbits’ intestinal health, as the cecal Lactobacillus count was increased, E. coli count was decreased, and villus height was elevated in SC- and CA-treated groups.

In conclusion, dietary incorporation of SC or CA enhanced the nutritional value of OC and improved growth performance, nutrient digestibility, thyroid activity, antioxidative status, and gut health of growing rabbits.