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Dried Penicillin Mycelium as a Riboflavin Source in Chick Rations1
Dried Penicillin Mycelium as a Riboflavin Source in Chick Rations 1 J. L. MILLIGAN, J. O. ANDERSON, G. F. COMBS AND G. M. BRIGGS 2 Department of Poultry Husbandry, University of Maryland, College Park (Received for publication April 27, 1950)
N
obtained from the use of such natural riboflavin carriers is due to their content of other required nutrients. Since large amounts of dried penicillin mycelium are commercially available, further investigation of the possible use of this material in poultry rations was considered important. In the present study, therefore, a penicillin mycelium produced under commercial conditions was tested as a source of riboflavin in a practical type chick starting ration. Crystalline riboflavin and two different dried brewers' yeasts varying widely in their riboflavin content also were used for comparison. EXPERIMENTAL
1 Scientific paper No. A277. Contribution No. 2223 of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (Department of Poultry Husbandry). 2 Present address: Poultry Husbandry Section, University Farm, St. Paul, Minnesota. 3 Obtained by H. R. Bird, now at the Agricultural Research Center. .
Day-old straight run New Hampshire chicks were individually wing banded and divided at random into groups of 20 chicks each. The chicks were reared to 6 weeks of age in electrically heated metal battery brooders after which they were transferred to growing batteries. All chicks were reared on wire mesh floors to prevent coprophagy. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum during a 9-week experimental period. Individual weights were taken at weekly intervals and a record of feed consumption was made. Three separate experiments were conducted, each including the same dietary supplements. The basal ration consisted of:
870
Ground yellow corn Pulverized oats
Percent 37.3 10.0
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 19, 2015
EWELL, Peterson, and Elvehjem (1947) reported that dried penicillin mycelium, produced under pilot plant conditions, could be successfully used as a supplement to soybean oil meal in chick rations. These workers found dried mycelium to be a good natural source of riboflavin and fed levels up to 20 percent of the ration with no harmful effects. No observations have been reported, however, on the use of penicillin mycelium produced under commercial conditions. Culton and Bird (1940) found that the addition of dried skimmilk to a riboflavinlow diet resulted in more rapid growth of chicks than was obtained by the addition of an equivalent amount of crystalline riboflavin. Other unpublished results3 from this laboratory also show a slightly greater improvement in the growth of chicks when riboflavin was supplied in the form of a butyl fermentation residue than when crystalline riboflavin was fed. Since it has been shown by Bethke and Record (1942) and others that synthetic and naturally-occurring riboflavin are equally effective in supplying the riboflavin needs of growing chicks, it appears that any additional growth response of chicks
871
RIBOFLAVIN IN PENICILLIN MYCELIUM
Ground wheat Soybean oil meal (expeller) Meat scrap Oyster shell flour Bone meal, steamed Salt, iodized A & D feeding oil (400 D, 3,000 A) Manganese sulfate
Percent 20.0 25.0 4.0 2.0 1.0 0.5 0.2 0.012
The riboflavin content of this ration was calculated to be 0.81 milligrams per pound. Each supplement was added at a TABLE 1.—Effect
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the three separate experiments have been combined and are given in Table 1. The growth of chicks fed rations containing any of the riboflavin supplements was significantly greater than
of riboflavin supplements on chick growth and feed efficiency
None Synthetic riboflavin Synthetic riboflavin 2 . 5 % dried penicillin mycelium 5.0% dried penicillin mycelium 2 . 5 % dried brewers' yeast " A " 5.0% dried brewers' yeast "A" 0.53% dried brewers' yeast " B " 1.06% dried brewers' yeast " B " 2 . 0 % dried brewers' yeast " A " + 0 . 5 % dried penicillin mycelium 11. 1.67% dried brewers' yeast " A " + 3.33% dried penicillin mycelium 12. 2 . 5 % dried brewers' yeast " A " + 2 . 5 % dried penicillin mycelium
Amt. of riboflavin added (mg./lb.)
No. of chicks* at 9 wks.
Ave. wt. at 9 wks. (males and females)
Gms. of feed required per gram gain
0.305 0.610 0.308 0.616 0.303 0.606 0.314 0.628
55 56 54 38 55 55 56 56 57
722** 831 836 817 868 870 873 862 891
3.18 2.90 3.06 3.15 3.10 2.95 2.92 2.86 2.80
0.304
55
853
2.87
0.612
58
888
2.97
0.611
37
880
3.12
_
•
* Three lots of 20 chicks each were used except for treatments 4 and 12, where only two lots of 20 chicks each were used. ** The differences between the average weight of chicks receiving the basal ration only and the average weights of those receiving any of the supplements are statistically significant to the 1% level.
level to supply approximately 0.3 or 0.6 milligrams of riboflavin per pound of ration. All crude supplements were made at the expense of an equivalent amount of corn. The composition of the commercially produced dried penicillin mycelium used in this study was as follows: moisture, 3.35 percent; crude fat, 8.9 percent; crude fiber, 16.0 percent; crude protein, 34.7 percent; ash, 22.6 percent; nitrogenfree extract, 14.45 percent; and riboflavin, 27.2 micrograms per gram. This dried material contained no active penicillin. The two different samples of dried brewers' yeasts used (designated as yeast
•
that of chicks receiving the riboflavin-low basal ration only. The incidence of curledtoe paralysis was low in the chicks fed the basal ration; none was observed in any of the groups of chicks fed riboflavin supplements. The chicks fed the ration containing 0.305 milligrams of added synthetic riboflavin per pound grew at essentially the same rate as those receiving twice this amount. It appears, therefore, that the addition of 0.305 milligrams of riboflavin per pound was ade4 All riboflavin determinations were carried out by the Maryland State Inspection and Regulatory Service, College Park, Maryland.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 19, 2015
Supplement to basal ration 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
A and yeast B) contained 26.8 and 130.7 micrograms of riboflavin per gram, respectively.4
872
J. L. MILLIGAN, J. O. ANDERSON, G. F. COMBS AND G. M. BRIGGS
B12.
Menge et al. (1949) and Stokstad et al.
(1949) found that an unidentified factor is required for rapid growth in chicks in the presence of adequate amounts of vitamin B i2 . Unpublished work6 from this laboratory has shown that dried brewers' yeast contains this unidentified chick growth factor. This finding is in agreement with those of Carlson el al. (1949). It is believed, therefore, that in the present study, the slightly improved growth response of chicks receiving the diets containing either of the dried brewers' yeasts was due to an unidentified factor. In any case, the results obtained in this study, as well as those reported by Culton and Bird (1940), suggest that certain crude riboflavin carriers may have more supplemental value when added to practical chick starting rations containing low levels of animal protein concentrates than can be attributed to their riboflavin content. The amount of feed required per unit of gain is shown in Table 1. While there were slight differences between rations, they are not considered great enough to be of significance. SUMMARY
1. Dried penicillin mycelium, produced under commercial conditions, was found to serve satisfactorily as a riboflavin source for starting chicks fed a practical ration low in riboflavin. 2. During 9-week experimental periods, the growth response of chicks fed a ration containing dried brewers' yeast as the riboflavin supplement was consistently greater than that of chicks fed a similar ration containing an equivalent amount of riboflavin. This suggests that dried brewers' yeast, and perhaps other crude carriers of riboflavin, may supply impor6
Obtained by G. H. Arscott and G. F. Combs, University of Maryland.
•
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 19, 2015
quate to meet the riboflavin requirements for chick growth. Dried penicillin mycelium served satisfactorily as a riboflavin supplement. When it was included in the ration at a level of 2.5 percent, the growth response of chicks was only slightly less than that obtained with chicks receiving an equivalent amount of synthetic riboflavin. When fed at the 5 percent level, somewhat better growth of chicks resulted than was obtained with either the lower level of dried penicillin mycelium or an equivalent amount of crystalline riboflavin. Combinations of dried penicillin mycelium and dried brewers' yeast resulted in excellent growth of chicks. These results are in agreement with those which Newell et al. (1947) obtained with a penicillin mycelium prepared under pilot plant conditions. When the ration contained either dried brewers' yeast "A" or " B , " the growth response of chicks was consistently greater than that of chicks receiving rations containing equivalent amounts of crystalline riboflavin. This was true when the yeasts were added alone or in combination with dried penicillin mycelium. The differences, however, were not statistically significant. Nevertheless, these results are of interest since they suggest that the dried brewers' yeasts " A " and " B " supplied an essential nutrient other than riboflavin. It is possible that the slightly more rapid growth of chicks fed the rations containing crude riboflavin supplements, as compared with those containing equivalent amounts of synthetic riboflavin, may have been due to their vitamin B12 content, since 4 percent meat scrap was the only important source of this vitamin. However, dried brewers' yeast is not considered to be a good source of vitamin
873
ASSOCIATION NOTES
tant nutrients, other than riboflavin, which may be limiting factors in certain practical rations. The possibility that dried brewers' yeast supplied an unidentified chick growth factor is discussed. ACKNOWLED GEMENTS The authors are indebted to Bradley and Baker, Baltimore, Maryland, for supplying the dried penicillin mycelium. The research was supported in part by a grant from Bradley and Baker, Baltimore, Maryland.
Association Notes {Continued from page 869)
Lillie of the Agricultural Research Centre, Beltsville, Maryland. The prize was awarded for his studies at the University of Maryland in collaboration with Doctors G. F. Combs and G. M. Briggs. The papers were entitled, "Folic Acid in Poultry Nutrition, 1. The Critical Need for Folic Acid by Laying Pullets, 2. Effect of Maternal Diet and Chick Diet upon Mortality, Growth and Feathering of Progeny," and were published in POULTRY SCIENCE 29: 115-121 and 122-129. This was Number 1 issue of Volume 29 published in January, 1950. Robert J. Lillie was born April 15,1921, at Rochester, Minnesota. From 1940 to 1944 he attended Swarthmore College and the Pennsylvania State College, obtaining his Bachelor's degree from the latter in 1944. During the following year he held a fellowship at Rutgers University and began his graduate work there. He continued his graduate work at the University of
ROBEET J. LIIXIE
Winner of the Poultry Science Research Prize
{Continued on page 894)
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 19, 2015
REFERENCES Bethke, R. M., and P. R. Record, 1942. The relation of riboflavin to growth and curled-toe paralysis in chicks. Poultry Sci. 21: 147-154.
Carlson, C. W., R. F. Miller, H. T. Peeler, L. C. Norris and G. F. Heuser, 1949. The complex nature of the animal protein factor. Poultry Sci. 28: 750-752. Culton, T. G., and H. R. Bird, 1940. The effect of some riboflavin supplements on chick growth and curled-toe paralysis. Poultry Sci. 19: 424-430. Menge, H., G. F. Combs and M. S. Shorb, 1949. Evidence for an unidentified chick growth factor in the presence of vitamin B12. Poultry Sci. 28: 775. Newell, G. W., W. H. Peterson and C. A. Elvehjem, 1947. The value of dried penicillin mycelium as a supplement in practical chick rations. Poultry Sci. 26: 284-288. Stokstad, E. L. R., T. H. Jukes, J. Pierce, A. C. Page, Jr., and A. L. Franklin, 1949. The multiple nature of the animal protein factor. J. Biol. Chem. 180: 647-654.
N
obtained from the use of such natural riboflavin carriers is due to their content of other required nutrients. Since large amounts of dried penicillin mycelium are commercially available, further investigation of the possible use of this material in poultry rations was considered important. In the present study, therefore, a penicillin mycelium produced under commercial conditions was tested as a source of riboflavin in a practical type chick starting ration. Crystalline riboflavin and two different dried brewers' yeasts varying widely in their riboflavin content also were used for comparison. EXPERIMENTAL
1 Scientific paper No. A277. Contribution No. 2223 of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (Department of Poultry Husbandry). 2 Present address: Poultry Husbandry Section, University Farm, St. Paul, Minnesota. 3 Obtained by H. R. Bird, now at the Agricultural Research Center. .
Day-old straight run New Hampshire chicks were individually wing banded and divided at random into groups of 20 chicks each. The chicks were reared to 6 weeks of age in electrically heated metal battery brooders after which they were transferred to growing batteries. All chicks were reared on wire mesh floors to prevent coprophagy. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum during a 9-week experimental period. Individual weights were taken at weekly intervals and a record of feed consumption was made. Three separate experiments were conducted, each including the same dietary supplements. The basal ration consisted of:
870
Ground yellow corn Pulverized oats
Percent 37.3 10.0
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 19, 2015
EWELL, Peterson, and Elvehjem (1947) reported that dried penicillin mycelium, produced under pilot plant conditions, could be successfully used as a supplement to soybean oil meal in chick rations. These workers found dried mycelium to be a good natural source of riboflavin and fed levels up to 20 percent of the ration with no harmful effects. No observations have been reported, however, on the use of penicillin mycelium produced under commercial conditions. Culton and Bird (1940) found that the addition of dried skimmilk to a riboflavinlow diet resulted in more rapid growth of chicks than was obtained by the addition of an equivalent amount of crystalline riboflavin. Other unpublished results3 from this laboratory also show a slightly greater improvement in the growth of chicks when riboflavin was supplied in the form of a butyl fermentation residue than when crystalline riboflavin was fed. Since it has been shown by Bethke and Record (1942) and others that synthetic and naturally-occurring riboflavin are equally effective in supplying the riboflavin needs of growing chicks, it appears that any additional growth response of chicks
871
RIBOFLAVIN IN PENICILLIN MYCELIUM
Ground wheat Soybean oil meal (expeller) Meat scrap Oyster shell flour Bone meal, steamed Salt, iodized A & D feeding oil (400 D, 3,000 A) Manganese sulfate
Percent 20.0 25.0 4.0 2.0 1.0 0.5 0.2 0.012
The riboflavin content of this ration was calculated to be 0.81 milligrams per pound. Each supplement was added at a TABLE 1.—Effect
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the three separate experiments have been combined and are given in Table 1. The growth of chicks fed rations containing any of the riboflavin supplements was significantly greater than
of riboflavin supplements on chick growth and feed efficiency
None Synthetic riboflavin Synthetic riboflavin 2 . 5 % dried penicillin mycelium 5.0% dried penicillin mycelium 2 . 5 % dried brewers' yeast " A " 5.0% dried brewers' yeast "A" 0.53% dried brewers' yeast " B " 1.06% dried brewers' yeast " B " 2 . 0 % dried brewers' yeast " A " + 0 . 5 % dried penicillin mycelium 11. 1.67% dried brewers' yeast " A " + 3.33% dried penicillin mycelium 12. 2 . 5 % dried brewers' yeast " A " + 2 . 5 % dried penicillin mycelium
Amt. of riboflavin added (mg./lb.)
No. of chicks* at 9 wks.
Ave. wt. at 9 wks. (males and females)
Gms. of feed required per gram gain
0.305 0.610 0.308 0.616 0.303 0.606 0.314 0.628
55 56 54 38 55 55 56 56 57
722** 831 836 817 868 870 873 862 891
3.18 2.90 3.06 3.15 3.10 2.95 2.92 2.86 2.80
0.304
55
853
2.87
0.612
58
888
2.97
0.611
37
880
3.12
_
•
* Three lots of 20 chicks each were used except for treatments 4 and 12, where only two lots of 20 chicks each were used. ** The differences between the average weight of chicks receiving the basal ration only and the average weights of those receiving any of the supplements are statistically significant to the 1% level.
level to supply approximately 0.3 or 0.6 milligrams of riboflavin per pound of ration. All crude supplements were made at the expense of an equivalent amount of corn. The composition of the commercially produced dried penicillin mycelium used in this study was as follows: moisture, 3.35 percent; crude fat, 8.9 percent; crude fiber, 16.0 percent; crude protein, 34.7 percent; ash, 22.6 percent; nitrogenfree extract, 14.45 percent; and riboflavin, 27.2 micrograms per gram. This dried material contained no active penicillin. The two different samples of dried brewers' yeasts used (designated as yeast
•
that of chicks receiving the riboflavin-low basal ration only. The incidence of curledtoe paralysis was low in the chicks fed the basal ration; none was observed in any of the groups of chicks fed riboflavin supplements. The chicks fed the ration containing 0.305 milligrams of added synthetic riboflavin per pound grew at essentially the same rate as those receiving twice this amount. It appears, therefore, that the addition of 0.305 milligrams of riboflavin per pound was ade4 All riboflavin determinations were carried out by the Maryland State Inspection and Regulatory Service, College Park, Maryland.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 19, 2015
Supplement to basal ration 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
A and yeast B) contained 26.8 and 130.7 micrograms of riboflavin per gram, respectively.4
872
J. L. MILLIGAN, J. O. ANDERSON, G. F. COMBS AND G. M. BRIGGS
B12.
Menge et al. (1949) and Stokstad et al.
(1949) found that an unidentified factor is required for rapid growth in chicks in the presence of adequate amounts of vitamin B i2 . Unpublished work6 from this laboratory has shown that dried brewers' yeast contains this unidentified chick growth factor. This finding is in agreement with those of Carlson el al. (1949). It is believed, therefore, that in the present study, the slightly improved growth response of chicks receiving the diets containing either of the dried brewers' yeasts was due to an unidentified factor. In any case, the results obtained in this study, as well as those reported by Culton and Bird (1940), suggest that certain crude riboflavin carriers may have more supplemental value when added to practical chick starting rations containing low levels of animal protein concentrates than can be attributed to their riboflavin content. The amount of feed required per unit of gain is shown in Table 1. While there were slight differences between rations, they are not considered great enough to be of significance. SUMMARY
1. Dried penicillin mycelium, produced under commercial conditions, was found to serve satisfactorily as a riboflavin source for starting chicks fed a practical ration low in riboflavin. 2. During 9-week experimental periods, the growth response of chicks fed a ration containing dried brewers' yeast as the riboflavin supplement was consistently greater than that of chicks fed a similar ration containing an equivalent amount of riboflavin. This suggests that dried brewers' yeast, and perhaps other crude carriers of riboflavin, may supply impor6
Obtained by G. H. Arscott and G. F. Combs, University of Maryland.
•
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 19, 2015
quate to meet the riboflavin requirements for chick growth. Dried penicillin mycelium served satisfactorily as a riboflavin supplement. When it was included in the ration at a level of 2.5 percent, the growth response of chicks was only slightly less than that obtained with chicks receiving an equivalent amount of synthetic riboflavin. When fed at the 5 percent level, somewhat better growth of chicks resulted than was obtained with either the lower level of dried penicillin mycelium or an equivalent amount of crystalline riboflavin. Combinations of dried penicillin mycelium and dried brewers' yeast resulted in excellent growth of chicks. These results are in agreement with those which Newell et al. (1947) obtained with a penicillin mycelium prepared under pilot plant conditions. When the ration contained either dried brewers' yeast "A" or " B , " the growth response of chicks was consistently greater than that of chicks receiving rations containing equivalent amounts of crystalline riboflavin. This was true when the yeasts were added alone or in combination with dried penicillin mycelium. The differences, however, were not statistically significant. Nevertheless, these results are of interest since they suggest that the dried brewers' yeasts " A " and " B " supplied an essential nutrient other than riboflavin. It is possible that the slightly more rapid growth of chicks fed the rations containing crude riboflavin supplements, as compared with those containing equivalent amounts of synthetic riboflavin, may have been due to their vitamin B12 content, since 4 percent meat scrap was the only important source of this vitamin. However, dried brewers' yeast is not considered to be a good source of vitamin
873
ASSOCIATION NOTES
tant nutrients, other than riboflavin, which may be limiting factors in certain practical rations. The possibility that dried brewers' yeast supplied an unidentified chick growth factor is discussed. ACKNOWLED GEMENTS The authors are indebted to Bradley and Baker, Baltimore, Maryland, for supplying the dried penicillin mycelium. The research was supported in part by a grant from Bradley and Baker, Baltimore, Maryland.
Association Notes {Continued from page 869)
Lillie of the Agricultural Research Centre, Beltsville, Maryland. The prize was awarded for his studies at the University of Maryland in collaboration with Doctors G. F. Combs and G. M. Briggs. The papers were entitled, "Folic Acid in Poultry Nutrition, 1. The Critical Need for Folic Acid by Laying Pullets, 2. Effect of Maternal Diet and Chick Diet upon Mortality, Growth and Feathering of Progeny," and were published in POULTRY SCIENCE 29: 115-121 and 122-129. This was Number 1 issue of Volume 29 published in January, 1950. Robert J. Lillie was born April 15,1921, at Rochester, Minnesota. From 1940 to 1944 he attended Swarthmore College and the Pennsylvania State College, obtaining his Bachelor's degree from the latter in 1944. During the following year he held a fellowship at Rutgers University and began his graduate work there. He continued his graduate work at the University of
ROBEET J. LIIXIE
Winner of the Poultry Science Research Prize
{Continued on page 894)
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on April 19, 2015
REFERENCES Bethke, R. M., and P. R. Record, 1942. The relation of riboflavin to growth and curled-toe paralysis in chicks. Poultry Sci. 21: 147-154.
Carlson, C. W., R. F. Miller, H. T. Peeler, L. C. Norris and G. F. Heuser, 1949. The complex nature of the animal protein factor. Poultry Sci. 28: 750-752. Culton, T. G., and H. R. Bird, 1940. The effect of some riboflavin supplements on chick growth and curled-toe paralysis. Poultry Sci. 19: 424-430. Menge, H., G. F. Combs and M. S. Shorb, 1949. Evidence for an unidentified chick growth factor in the presence of vitamin B12. Poultry Sci. 28: 775. Newell, G. W., W. H. Peterson and C. A. Elvehjem, 1947. The value of dried penicillin mycelium as a supplement in practical chick rations. Poultry Sci. 26: 284-288. Stokstad, E. L. R., T. H. Jukes, J. Pierce, A. C. Page, Jr., and A. L. Franklin, 1949. The multiple nature of the animal protein factor. J. Biol. Chem. 180: 647-654.