NZ751143B2

NZ751143B2 - Livestock feed or livestock supplement, lactobacillus bacteria growth promoter, and lactobacillus bacteria growth promotion method

Info

Publication number: NZ751143B2
Application number: NZ751143A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Akihito AMAO; Yuriko Oda; Fumitaka Ueda
Original assignee: Fujifilm Corporation
Priority date: 2016-09-02
Filing date: 2017-09-01
Publication date: 2022-02-01

Abstract

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a livestock feed or a livestock supplement, a lactobacillus bacteria growth promoter, and a lactobacillus bacterial growth promotion method with which it is possible to improve the intestinal environment of livestock, or more specifically increase the constituent ratio of lactobacillus bacteria among intestinal bacteria, without administering bacteria from the exterior. The present invention provides a livestock feed or a livestock supplement containing a Salacia plant, a Salacia plant extract, and/or pulverized Salacia plant, the livestock feed or livestock supplement being used to promote growth of lactobacillus bacteria in livestock. ease the constituent ratio of lactobacillus bacteria among intestinal bacteria, without administering bacteria from the exterior. The present invention provides a livestock feed or a livestock supplement containing a Salacia plant, a Salacia plant extract, and/or pulverized Salacia plant, the livestock feed or livestock supplement being used to promote growth of lactobacillus bacteria in livestock.

Description

FEED FOR DOMESTIC ANIMALS OR SUPPLEMENT FOR DOMESTIC ANIMALS, GROWTH-PROMOTINGAGENT FOR BACTERIUM OF GENUS LACTOBACILLUS, AND METHOD FOR PROMOTING GROWTH OF BACTERIUM OF GENUS LACTOBACILLUS OUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The t invention relates to a feed for domestic animals or a supplement for domestic animals, which contains Salacia. The present invention further relates to a growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals, which contains a. The present invention further s to a method for promoting growth of a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals, which includes administering Salacia. 2. Description of the Related Art The Thoroughbred is a light horse breed that has used the Arabian horse, a hunter type (a breed used for hunting ated in English), and the like to improve breed thereof as a racehorse in the early 18th-century England. The Thoroughbred is repeatedly crossed and selected aiming to win at horse racing still in present time. The Thoroughbred can run at speeds of 60 to 70 km/hour for several minutes continuously while being in a state of carrying weights of 48 to 59 kg on the back when racing. The Thoroughbred is a high added-value industrial animal, and about 0 kinds thereof are produced all around the world, including the United States, lia, Ireland, Japan, and the like every year.

Examples of diseases of the Thoroughbred include diarrhea in addition to muscle fatigue, arthritis pain, trauma and bone fracture, and the like caused by training, race, and the like. Examples of the diarrhea in the Thoroughbred include foal diarrhea induced by rotavirus infection, diarrhea induced by administration of an antimicrobial agent to treat diseases or for transportation, diarrhea induced by colitis-X having a high mortality rate, and the like. The diarrhea in the Thoroughbred is a s disease directly connected to a price decline due to inhibition of foal growth, and the performance and life and death of active horses, and therefore normalization of the intestinal environment has been demanded for the e of ameliorating such a diarrhea in the Thoroughbred.

As a method for increasing good bacteria in the intestine for the purpose of ameliorating such intestinal environment, a method of allowing an animal to ingest lactic acid bacteria or Lactobacillus biﬁdus is known. Patent Document 1 discloses a feed additive containing a culture of a rganism belonging to the genus acillus having predetermined chemotaxonomic properties and/or a microbial cell as an active ingredient.

Patent Document 2 discloses a product for intestinal disorders, which contains a novel strain of Biﬁdobacterium longum having inhibitory activity against rotavirus known to cause diarrhea in children and young animals, as an active ingredient.

Meanwhile, the roots and stems of a plant of the genus Salacia (also called Kota Rahim) have been used as natural drugs in ional medicine Ayurveda in India and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, it has been passed down that the root skin of Salacia reticulata is effective for treatment of rheumatism, gonorrhea, and skin diseases, and that the root skin is used for treatment of diabetes in early stage. Patent Document 3 discloses a supplement for s, which includes royal jelly, Kota Rahim, and coenzyme Q10. In addition, Patent Document 4 discloses a promoter of hypoglycemia action by an oc-glucosidase inhibitor, which includes at least one kind of bacteria selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus biﬁdus, lactic acid bacteria, saccharified bacteria, and butyric acid bacteria. Patent Document 4 discloses that Salacia may be used as an ot—glucosidase inhibitor.

Prior Art Documents Patent Documents Patent nt 1: JP2003-235569A Patent Document 2: JP2005-102696A Patent Document 3: JP2008-067632A Patent Document 4: JP2010-248185A SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The inventors of the present invention have d for the purpose of normalizing the intestinal environment of a domestic animal such as a horse represented by Thoroughbred, and have found that effects were insufficient in all cases. For example, in the feed additive disclosed in -235569A, lactic acid bacteria themselves are administered to an animal, and therefore it is necessary to e the stability of the lactic acid bacteria themselves, and furthermore, the effect was not obtained ing on the predisposition of the animal to be stered. In addition, the product for intestinal disorders disclosed in JP2005—102696A uses Lactobacillus biﬁdus, but in a case where the product is administered to a horse, an intestinal pH excessively decreases, and therefore there was a n that an environment becomes an internal environment not preferable for the growth environment of lactic acid bacteria. In particular, in the method of allowing an animal to ingest lactic acid bacteria or acillus biﬁdus themselves as in JP2003-235569A and JP2005-102696A, there was a problem that the number of viable bacteria decreases during a storage period before ingestion, or ingested bacteria are ized in a case of, for example, passing through the acidic environment of the stomach, and therefore the effect is insufﬁciently exhibited.

In the supplement for animals disclosed in -067632A, the royal jelly is the main component, and the intestinal environment has not been examined. In addition, in the promoter of hypoglycemia action disclosed in JP2010-248185A, at least one kind of bacteria itself selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus s, lactic acid bacteria, sacchariﬁed bacteria, and butyric acid bacteria is used, but the intestinal environment has not been examined.

The problem to be solved by the t invention is to provide a feed for domestic animals or a ment for domestic animals, a -promoting agent for a ium of the genus Lactobacillus, and a method for promoting growth of a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus, by which an intestinal environment of the domestic animal can be ameliorated t externally administering bacteria, and more speciﬁcally, a proportion of bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus in intestinal bacteria can be increased.

As a result of intensive studies to solve the above problems, the inventors of the present invention have found that the number of bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus can be greatly increased without externally administering bacteria by allowing the domestic animal to ingest Salacia, and therefore have ted the present invention. ing to the present invention, the following invention is provided. [1] A feed for domestic animals or a supplement for domestic animals, which is used for promoting growth of a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in the domestic animal, the . feed or the supplement comprising: at least one of a plant of the genus Salacia, an extract of the plant of the genus a, or a ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia.

The feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals according to [1], in which an e pH of feces after ingestion for 6 days is 6.0 to 8.2.

The feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals according to [1] or [2], in which an amount of acetic acid in feces after ingestion for 6 days is increased by 1.1 times or more as compared to an amount of acetic acid in feces before ingestion.

The feed for domestic animals or the supplement for ic animals according to any one of [1] to [3], in which the bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus is at least one selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus equi, Lactobacillus hayakitensis, Lactobacillus equigenerosi, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, and Lactobacillus ingluviei.

A growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals, comprising: at least one of a plant of the genus Salacia, an extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or a ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia.

The growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals according to [5], in which an average pH of feces after ingestion for 6 days is 6.0 to 8.2.

The growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals according to [5] or [6], in which an amount of acetic acid in feces after ingestion for 6 days is increased by 1.1 times or more as ed to an amount of acetic acid in feces before ingestion.

The growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals according to any one of [5] to [7], in which the bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus is at least one selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus equi, acillus hayakitensis, Lactobacillus equigenerosi, Lactobacillus eckii, and Lactobacillus ingluviei.

A method for promoting growth of a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals, comprising: administering at least one of a plant of the genus Salacia, an extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or a ground t of the plant of the genus Salacia to the domestic animal.

The method according to [9], in which an average pH of feces after ingestion for 6 days is 6.0 to 8.2.

The method according to [9] or [10], in which an amount of acetic acid in feces after ingestion for 6 days is increased by 1.1 times or more as compared to an amount of acetic acid in feces before ingestion.

The method according to any one of [9] to [11], in which the ium of the genus acillus is at least one selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus equi, Lactobacillus tensis, Lactobacillus equigenerosi, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, and Lactobacillus iei.

] In a particular aspect, the t invention provides a feed or a supplement when used for promoting growth of a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in horses, the feed or the (followed by page 4a) supplement comprising an aqueous extract of a plant of the genus Salacia. [0011B] In another particular aspect, the present invention provides a method for promoting growth of a ium of the genus Lactobacillus in a horse comprising administering an aqueous extract of a plant of the genus Salacia to the horse.

According to the feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals, the growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus acillus, and the method for [FOLLOWED BY PAGE 5] promoting growth of a ium of the genus Lactobacillus according to the embodiment of the invention, the number of bacteria of the genus acillus can be greatly increased without externally administering bacteria.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

A feed for domestic animals or a supplement for domestic animals according to the embodiment of the ion, and a growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention contain at least one of a plant of the genus Salacia, an extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or a ground product of the plant of the genus a.

Generally, it is known that, in a case Where a human ingests a, there is a tendency that a weight gain is suppressed or a body weight decreased due to the following reasons.

First, in a case where a human ingests Salacia, Lactobacillus biﬁdus mainly increases in the intestine. This Lactobacillus biﬁdus breaks down sugar and produces lactic acid and acetic acid, which are energy s more easily consumable than sugar. In addition, it is known that Salacia has an tory action on a-glucosidase, an enzyme that degrades polysaccharides. For this reason, it is known that an effect of ssion of blood sugar elevation and an anti-obesity effect are obtained by Salacia ingestion in .

With respect to the above description, the inventors of the present invention have conducted the investigation and conﬁrmed that a body weight increases in a case where a non-human animal ingests Salacia. In more , the ors of the present invention have found by the present investigation that the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus, which are a kind of lactic acid bacteria, increase in the intestine.

Regarding the above viewpoint, the inventors of the present invention presume as follows.

It is considered that, in the case where the non-human animal ingests Salacia, the polysaccharide reaches the large intestine in a form of disaccharide or oligosaccharide, and these saccharides are degraded by bacteria in the large intestine, but the non-human animal does not have Lactobacillus biﬁdus, and ore a lactic acid bacteria group increases and thus the intestinal environment is normalized. Regarding the above viewpoint, the inventors of the present invention have further conducted investigation in detail. As a result, in the case where the non-human animal ingested Salacia, the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus, which are bacteria classiﬁed as Firmicutese as good ia, remarkably increased. It is presumed that by the increase of bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus, lactic acid and acetic acid are produced and thus energy metabolism is enhanced, and in addition, these acids degrade dietary ﬁbers and the like which are not originally absorbed as nutrients, and change the dietary ﬁbers into a state capable of being ed as nutrients, leading to a weight gain.

That is, it is ered that, in the case where the non—human animal ingested Salacia, the amelioration of the intestinal environment raises an energy recovery rate from the meal and makes fat to be easily stored, and as a result, an increase in a body weight is conﬁrmed. In on, as described above, since lactic acid and acetic acid are energy sources which are easily consumed, it is considered that the energy sources also increase by the increase of bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus, and therefore stamina of the non-human animal that has ingested Salacia increases.

As described above, the effect of Salacia is greatly different between humans and non—human animals. In a case where the domestic animal such as a horse ingests Salacia, the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus in the intestine can be increased without ally administering bacteria. That is, the ﬁnding that the growth of bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus originally ned in the domestic animal is promoted is absolutely unexpected. A tion of Lactobacillus biﬁdus in the intestine in humans is about 20% at maximum, whereas Lactobacillus biﬁdus is not detected in horses, and therefore a proportion of acillus biﬁdus and lactic acid bacteria in the intestinal bacteria is signiﬁcantly different in human and horses. Accordingly, in a case where the human or man animal ingest bacteria themselves, the type of bacteria to be ingested should be originally different for both cases, but studies thereon have not been made sufﬁciently in the related art.

As described above, the composition of the inal bacteria is different between humans and horses, and therefore it is difﬁcult to predict an effect of Salacia ingestion in the man animals such as ic animals. tic animal> The domestic animal generally means mammals and birds other than , which are raised by humans. Examples of the domestic animal in the present invention include domestic animals ing birds and pets, and speciﬁc examples thereof include horse (light horse breed, intermediate horse breed, and heavy horse breed), pig, cow (dairy cattle, beef cattle), sheep, goat, and the like. The domestic animal is preferably herbivores.

The domestic animal in the present invention is preferably a horse and more preferably the light horse breed. The light horse breed is the type of horse, generally means Arab, ghbred, Anglo-Arab, Arabic types, and Thoroughbred types. The domestic animal in the present invention is particularly preferably the Thoroughbred. A horse such as the Thoroughbred may not only be a racehorse but also be a young horse still being raised, a horse for horse riding after retirement, or a horse for meat. The plant of the genus a is a plant of the family Hippocrateaceae, which grows primarily in Sri Lanka, India, and Southeast Asia. Speciﬁc es of the plant of the genus Salacia e one or more plants selected from Salacia reticulata, Salacia oblonga, Salacia prinoides, Salacia chinensis, Salacia latifolia, Salacia burunoniana, a grandiﬂora, or Salacia macrosperma. As the plant of the genus Salacia, at least one plant selected from Salacia reticulata, Salacia oblonga, or Salacia chinensis is preferable.

In the present invention, at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground t of the plant of the genus Salacia may be used, and the plant of the genus Salacia can be preferably used. As the plant of the genus Salacia, edible parts such as roots, stems, leaves, ﬂowers, and fruits of the plant of the genus Salacia can be used as they are.

In the present speciﬁcation, the term extract of the plant of the genus Salacia and the term ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia are used to include an extract and/or a ground product of the edible parts such as roots, stems, leaves, ﬂowers, and fruits of the plant of the genus Salacia, and a dried product of the extract and/or the ground product. In the present speciﬁcation, the dried product may be a dry powder (extract powder). In a case of preparing the extract and/or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia, a part of one or more kinds of the plants of the genus Salacia may be mixed and used. From the viewpoint of enhancing intake efﬁciency of the domestic animal, as the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, an extract powder obtained by drying the extract extracted from a part selected from the root and the stem is more preferably used.

The dry powder (extract powder) can be ably ed by extracting the edible parts and the like of the plant of the genus Salacia with a t and then drying the extract ed above. Examples of the solvent used for the extraction include water, alcohol, ketone, and the like, and a mixed solvent in which two or more kinds thereof are mixed may be used. Examples of the alcohol e methanol, ethanol, and the like, and ethanol is preferable. Preferred examples of the ketone include acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, cyclohexane, and the like.

Among the above examples, water, alcohol, a mixed t of water and l, or a mixed solvent of water and ketone is able, water, alcohol, or a mixed solvent of water and alcohol is more able, and hot water at 50°C to 98°C, l, or a mixed solvent of water and ethanol is even more preferable.

A content of alcohol in the mixed solvent of water and alcohol is preferably from 30% by mass to 90% by mass, and more preferably from 40% by mass to 70% by mass. A drying method for drying the extract so as to obtain the dry powder ct powder) is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include known drying methods such as spray drying and freeze-drying. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided the feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals, which contains at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia. The feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention is used for promoting the growth of the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus in the domestic animal. The bacteria of the genus acillus will be described later in the present speciﬁcation.

The feed for domestic animals ing to the embodiment of the ion can be produced by formulating at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia, into a basic feed generally used according to the type of domestic animals.

The basic feed may be any feed that has been supplied to each domestic animal in the related art. In a case of a horse such as a racehorse, examples of the basic feed include pasture grasses, cereals such as oats, beans (soybeans and the like), oil meal, and the like, but are not particularly limited. It is also possible to use a formulated feed in which a plurality of ingredients are formulated.

As the formulated feed, for example, formulated feeds shown below can be used.

A feed in which oats, fusuma, corn, soybean cake, barley, alfalfa, vitamins, and minerals are formulated; A feed in which vitamins, minerals, herbs, and the like are formulated with oats, fusuma, a meal, corn, wheat ﬂour, corn gluten feed, and soybean oil meal as main ingredients; A feed in which vitamins, minerals, herbs, and the like are formulated with corn, barley, oats, wheat ﬂour, soybean, fusuma, soybean cake, rapeseed oil cake, molasses, and vegetable oil as main ingredients; A feed in which coenzyme Q10, carnosine, and soybean peptide are formulated with oats, fusuma, barley, corn, wheat ﬂour, soybean oil meal, soybean, molasses, vitamins and minerals, herbs, and the like as usual ingredients; A feed in which vitamins, minerals, herbs, and the like are formulated with corn, barley, wheat ﬂour, soybean, rice bran, fusuma, soybean cake, rapeseed oil cake, black sunﬂower, molasses, and vegetable oil as main ients; A feed in which proteins, ns, and minerals are formulated with soybean, black sunﬂower, soybean cake, corn gluten meal, molasses, corn, and beet pulp as main ingredients, feeding being in the premise that the feed is mixed with oats and then supplied; and A feed in which corn, barley, heat-treated soybean, black sunﬂower seed, oats, soybean cake, rapeseed cake, beet pulp, and the like are formulated.

The feed for domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention may contain ves such as a rcing agent, a y improver, an antibiotic, an antimicrobial agent, an enzyme, an antibacterial agent, an antioxidant, a colorant, a sweetener, and a perfume.

A content of "at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground t of the plant of the genus Salacia" in the feed for domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention is not particularly limited, but is generally from 1% by mass to 50% by mass, preferably from 2% by mass to 40% by mass, more preferably from 3% by mass to 30% by mass, and even more preferably from 5% by mass to 20% by mass.

The supplement for domestic animals is a supplement which is added to a feed for the domestic animal and then fed together with the feed for the e of maintaining, restoring, or promoting health, or preventing or ameliorating diseases, and the like. The supplement for domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention is particularly preferably a ment for a racehorse (Thoroughbred).

As the supplement for ic animals according to the embodiment of the invention, at least one of the plant of the genus a, the t of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground t of the plant of the genus Salacia itself may be used alone, or an supplement in which at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia is ated with other components may be used. es of the other components include mineral yeast, ﬂavonoid, polyphenol, oral substances having an immunopotentiation action, and the like, and are not particularly d.

Speciﬁc examples of the other components include the ents described in paragraphs 0023 to 0038 of JP2015-127340A.

The supplement for domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention may further contain one or more selected from vitamins, vitamin—like substances, proteins, amino acids, oils and fats, c acids, carbohydrates, plant—derived raw materials, animal-derived raw materials, food additives, and pharmaceutical additives, and the like, which are orally ingestible components, as appropriate.

The supplement for domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention can be prepared by using various carriers, for example, one or more additives selected from excipients, lubricants, izers, dispersants, binders, diluents, ﬂavoring agents, sweeteners, ﬂavorings, and colorants, may preferably be prepared as an orally administered agent.

A form of the supplement for domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention is not particularly limited as long as the effect of the t invention can be exhibited. For example, the form may be a form such as tablets, pills, granules, ﬁne granules, peptizers, capsules (hard capsules or soft capsules ﬁlled with the supplement), liquid drug, and chewable agents.

A t of "at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground t of the plant of the genus Salacia" in the supplement for ic animals ing to the embodiment of the invention is not particularly d, but is generally from 10% by mass to 100% by mass, preferably from 20% by mass to 100% by mass, more preferably from 50% by mass to 100% by mass, even more preferably from 70% by mass to 100% by mass, particularly preferably from 90% by mass to 100% by mass, and most preferably 100% by mass. That is, it is most preferable to use "at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia" as it is as the supplement for domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention. [003 8] According to a second aspect of the t invention, there is provided a growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals, including at least one of a plant of the genus Salacia, an extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or a ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia.

The bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus are gram positive ia classiﬁed as lactic acid ia. The genus Lactobacillus is the largest genus among about 30 lactic acid bacteria. The bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus are widely distributed in nature, and there are over 70 types of bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus.

The bacteria of the genus acillus are preferably ia t in the intestines of horses.

The bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus are more preferably bacteria t in the intestine of the horse and are bacteria not present in the human intestine.

The bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus is more preferably at least one selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus equi, Lactobacillus hayakitensis, Lactobacillus equigenerosi, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, and Lactobacillus ingluviei.

Whether or not the growth—promoting agent for a ium of the genus Lactobacillus in ic animals according to the embodiment of the invention can promote the growth of the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus bacteria can be conﬁrmed by the following method, for example.

A predetermined amount of the growth—promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus acillus in domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention is d to be ingested by the domestic animal for a certain period of time, and feces before and after the ingestion period is collected. DNA is extracted from the collected feces, and a sequence library is prepared using the obtained DNA. Sequence is performed by next tion sequencer (MiSeq; Illumina), data with high similarity is divided into groups (Operation Taxonomic Unit (OTU)), and lineage classiﬁcation is estimated. The number of sequence data belonging to each classiﬁcation group is tabulated and comparison of data before and after is med. However, an abundance ratio differs greatly for each bacterium, and therefore an initial value is set to 100, ison of the number of bacteria before ingestion and after the ingestion is carried out. With the value ng less than 100 after ingestion, it can be conﬁrmed whether or not the above-described predetermined number of bacteria can be suppressed.

As the growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention, at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus a, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia itself may be used alone, or an supplement in which at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia is formulated with other components may be used.

Examples of the other ents include mineral yeast, id, polyphenol, oral substances having an immunopotentiation action, and the like, and are not particularly limited.

Speciﬁc es of the other components include the ents described in paragraphs 0023 to 0038 of JP2015-127340A.

The growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic s according to the ment of the invention may r contain one or more selected from Vitamins, vitamin-like substances, proteins, amino acids, oils and fats, organic acids, ydrates, plant-derived raw materials, animal-derived raw materials, feed additives, and pharmaceutical additives for animals, and the like, which are orally ingestible components, as appropriate.

The growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention can be prepared by using various carriers, for example, one or more additives selected from excipients, lubricants, izers, dispersants, binders, diluents, ﬂavoring agents, sweeteners, ﬂavorings, and colorants, may preferably be prepared as an orally administered agent.

A form the growth—promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention is not particularlylimited as long as the effect of the present invention can be exhibited. For example, the form may be a form such as tablets, pills, granules, fine granules, peptizers, capsules (hard es or soft capsules ﬁlled with the supplement), liquid drug, and chewable agents.

A content of "at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia" in the growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention is not particularly limited, but is generally from % by mass to 100% by mass, preferably from 20% by mass to 100% by mass, more preferably from 50% by mass to 100% by mass, even more preferably from 70% by mass to 100% by mass, particularly preferably from 90% by mass to 100% by mass, and most preferably 100% by mass. That is, it is most preferable to use "at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the t of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus a" as it is as the growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals according to the embodiment of the invention. The feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals, and the growth—promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus according to the embodiment of the invention have the domestic animal as an administration subject, and can be orally administered to the domestic animal.

That is, ing to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for promoting growth of a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals, including: administering at least one of a plant of the genus Salacia, an extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or a ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia to the domestic animal.

The bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus and red ranges thereof are as described above in the present speciﬁcation.

The method for administering at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or' the ground t of the plant of the genus a to the domestic animal is not particularly limited, but oral administration, that is, the ic animal may orally ingest at least one thereof.

In a case where an inhibitor of the number of enteric bacteria of the feed for domestic . animals or the supplement for domestic animals, or the growth—promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus according to the ment of the invention is administered to the domestic animal, a daily intake amount or a dose of "at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia" is preferably 0.1 day or more, more preferably 0.5 mg/kg/day or more, even more preferably 1.0 mg/kg/day or more, still even more preferably 2.0 mg/kg/day or more, and particularly preferably 4.0 mg/kg/day or more. An upper limit of a daily intake amount or a dose of the extract and/or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia is not particularly limited, but is generally 2000 mg/kg/day or less, and ably 1000 mg/kg/day or less.

In a case where the inhibitor of the number of enteric bacteria of the feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals, or the growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus according to the embodiment of the invention is administered to the domestic animal, the number of ia of the genus Lactobacillus preferably increases by 1.1 times or more, more preferably 1.5 times or more, even more preferably 2 times or more, still even more preferably 5 times or more, and particularly preferably 10 times or more. At this time, increasing bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus are preferably at least one kind selected from group consisting of Lactobacillus equi, Lactobacillus hayakitensis, Lactobacillus equigenerosi, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, and Lactobacillus ingluviei, and most preferably n acillus equi. An average pH of feces after ion of the feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic s or the growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus according to the embodiment of the ion for 6 days is not particularly limited, but is preferably from 6.0 to 8.2, more preferably from 6.5 to 8.2, even more preferably from 7.0 to 8.2, still even more preferably from 7.4 to 8.2, and particularly preferably from 7.6 to 8.0. By setting the average pH of feces within the above range, it is possible to suppress the effect of killing cellulose-degrading bacteria, to suppress the increase of bad bacteria, and to maintain good intestinal environment.

The average pH of feces can be measured by the following method. A certain amount of the feces is d out and a sample solution is prepared by adding 9 times an amount of puriﬁed water to the mass thereof. The obtained sample solution is thoroughly shaken and the sample is dispersed in puriﬁed water. Subsequently, after the sample solution is heated at 80°C for 30 minutes to inactivate Virus and the like contained in the sample, the sample solution is left to stand. After allowing the sample solution to stand still, the supernatant of the sample solution is collected and pH measurement is performed with the glass ode.

For the pH measurement, a compact pH meter twin B-172, manufactured by'Horiba Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) can be used. According to the feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals, the growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus, and the method for promoting growth of a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus according to the embodiment of the invention, an amount of acetic acid in the feces can be ably increased. The acetic acid can ameliorate the intestinal environment by promoting intestinal peristaltic movement.

The amount of acetic acid in the feces after ingestion for 6 days preferably sed by 1.1 times or more, more preferably 1.2 times or more, even more preferably 1.3 times or more, still even more preferably 1.4 times or more, and particularly preferably 1.5 times or more, as compared with an amount of acetic acid in feces before ingestion.

The amount of acetic acid in the feces can be measured by general methods.

Examples of the method include a method described in the examples below. According to the feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals, the growth-promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus, and the method for ing growth of a bacterium of the genus acillus according to the embodiment of the ion, the number and/or a proportion of bacteria of the genus Clostridium in the intestinal bacteria can be preferably d. By ingestion of the feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals or the growth—promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus according to the embodiment of the invention, the number of bacteria of the genus Clostridium is preferably lowered by 0.9 times or less, more ably 0.8 times less, even more ably 0.7 times or less, and particularly preferably 0.6 times or less, as compared with the number of bacteria before ingestion.

The bacteria of the genus Clostridium are obligate anaerobic bacteria that live in low oxygen concentration environments such as in the soil and in the ine of organisms and cannot grow in the presence of oxygen. A large number of pathogenic bacteria are also contained in the bacteria of the genus Clostridium, and ore, adverse effects caused by enic ia can be suppressed in some cases according to the present invention.

The measurement of whether the number or a tion of the bacteria of the genus Clostridium is lowered or not can be carried out in the same manner as the method for measuring whether the growth of the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus can be promoted or not. Furthermore, according to the present invention, at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia, which is used in raising of the domestic animal, which includes administration of the feed or the supplement used for promoting the growth of the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus in the domestic animal, is provided.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus a, which is used in ure for promoting the growth of the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus in the domestic animal, is provided.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, use of at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia, which is for producing the feed for domestic animals or the supplement for domestic animals used for ing the growth of the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus in the domestic animal, is provided.

Furthermore, according to the t invention, use of at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the‘plant of the genus Salacia, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia, which is for producing the growth—promoting agent for a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in domestic animals, is provided.

Preferred aspects of each invention described above are as described above in the present speciﬁcation.

Examples Hereinafter, the present invention will be more speciﬁcally described based on the following examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples. In the present speciﬁcation, "Tris" is an abbreviation for trishydroxyrnethylaminomethane, and "EDTA" is an abbreviation for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. e 1: Root and stem parts of Salacia reticulata and Salacia oblonga were ground, and then mixed in equal weight. A on obtained through a hot water tion step at 98°C was spray dried, and ore Salacia extract powder was obtained.

Example 2: l2 Thoroughbreds aged 2 to 12 years old (weight: 440 to 480 kg) ingested 9 g of the Salacia extract powder per day. The s in the number of ia of the genus Lactobacillus and bacteria of the genus Clostridium in feces before the ingestion of the a extract powder and after the ingestion of the Salacia extract powder for 6 days were measured by T-RFLP (Nagashima method). In Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T—RFLP) analysis, template DNA was ed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a terminal ﬂuorescence-labeled primer set, and after digestion with a restriction , fragment analysis was med. The T—RFLP analysis is a fragment polymorphism analysis for evaluation and comparison based on the intensity, position, and the number of detected peaks by using that restriction enzyme cleavage sites differs due to a difference in DNA base sequence. The number of bacteria in the feces can be stored in the database according to the "Nagashima method," inal bacteria are estimated at a genus level, and a change can be visualized and quantiﬁed.

The results are shown in Table 1. cal values in the table indicate relative values when the number of bacteria before ingestion of the a extract powder is taken as 100.

[Table 1] Bacteria of the genus Bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus Clostridium Before ingestion of Salacia extract powder After ingestion of Salacia extract powder for 6 days As shown in Table l, the proportion of the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus, which are good bacteria, was signiﬁcantly increased by ingestion of the Salacia extract powder, and the proportion of the ia of the genus Clostridium to which many pathogenic bacteria belong to was lowered. In addition, the average pH of feces and the amount of acetic acid in feces were measured before ion of the a extract powder and after ingestion of the Salacia extract powder for 6 days.

The average pH of feces was measured by the following method. A certain amount of the sample (feces) was weighed out and a sample solution was prepared by adding 9 times an amount of purified water to the mass thereof. The obtained sample solution was thoroughly shaken, and the sample was dispersed in puriﬁed water. Subsequently,_ after the sample on was heated at 80°C for 30 minutes to inactivate virus and the like contained in the sample, the sample solution was left to stand. After allowing the sample solution to stand still, the supernatant of the sample solution was collected and pH measurement was performed with the glass electrode. For the pH ement, a compact pH meter (LAQUAtwin B-l72, manufactured by Horiba Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) was used.

The amount of acetic acid in feces was measured by the following method.

The certain amount of the sample (feces) was precisely d in a bead tube, and suspended with an extraction on, and therefore a sample solution was obtained.

Subsequently, the obtained sample solution was heat—treated (at 85°C for 20 minutes), the sample was grounded by physical pulverization (beads and shaking), and centrifugation (14000 rpm, 10 minutes) was carried out. The atant of the sample solution was collected and ﬁltered through a membrane ﬁlter having a pore size of 0.45 um, and a on thus obtained was used as a solution for measurement.

A concentration of acetic acid contained in the sample for measurement was measured by high performance liquid chromatography, and was converted into the amount of acetic acid in the sample.

The extraction solution is not particularly limited as long as it is a solution containing water, but a p—toluenesulfonic acid solution is preferable.

The results are shown in Table 2. Numerical values of the amount of acetic acid in feces in the table indicate relative values when the amount of acetic acid in feces before ion of the Salacia extract powder is taken as 100.

[Table 2] Average pH of Amount of acetic acid in feces feces Before ingestion of Salacia extract powder 7.6 100 ‘ After ingestion of a extract powder for 6 8.0 150 days As shown in Table 2, the average pH of feces did not decrease even after ingestion for 6 days as compared to before ion of the Salacia extract powder. In the case where the pH of feces is lower than pH 5.0, there is a concern that the activity of cellulose-degrading bacteria will be lowered, but ingestion of the Salacia extract powder does not have the above problem. In addition, by ingestion of the Salacia extract , the amount of acetic acid, a type of organic acid, in feces was increased. The acetic acid is known to promote intestinal peristaltic movement and to ameliorate the intestinal environment. In on, changes in the number of bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus were measured for each ial strain before ingestion of the a extract powder and after ingestion of the Salacia t powder for 6 days.

The changes in the number of bacteria were measured by the following method. The feces before and after the ingestion period were collected using a feces sampling kit (TechnoSuruga Laboratory Co., Ltd., Shizuoka, Japan). The collected feces were suspended in GTC (guanidine thiocyanate) Buffer (100 mmol/L Tris-HCl [pH 9.0], 40 mmol/L DTA [pH 8.0], 4 mol/L Guanidine Thiocyanate). The feces added to the liquid were crushed with zirconia beads and DNA extraction was carried out from 100 pl of the suspension by using an automatic nucleic acid extractor (Precision System Science, Chiba, Japan). Using the obtained DNA, sample preparation for the sequencing library was carried out with a NexteraTM DNA sample preparation kit (Illumina Co., Ltd.). In addition, by adding an index sequence to each sample (according to the protocol of the kit), it was possible to discriminate the samples. Sequencing was carried out by the next generation sequencer (MiSeq; Illumina Co., Ltd.) using the prepared sequencer library. For the ed data, quality check of the base ce was carried out and ﬁltering of low quality data was carried out. The data in which the quality check was cleared and the data with high similarity were divided into groups (Operation Taxonomic Unit (OTU)). For each OTU, a homology search was med on the 168 rRNA gene database, and the lineage classiﬁcation was estimated.

The number of sequence data belonging to each classiﬁcation group was tabulated and comparison of data before and after was performed. However, an abundance ratio s greatly for each bacterium, and therefore an l value was set to 1, and the number of bacteria after ingestion was taken as a relative value, and comparison of the number of bacteria before and after the ingestion was carried out. The results are shown in Table 3.

[Table 3] Lactobacillus Lactobacillus Lactobacillus acillus Lactobacillus equi hayakitensis equigenerosi delbrueckii iei Before ingestion of 1 l l l 1 Salacia extract powder After ingestion of Salacia extract powder for 6 days Based on the results shown in Table 3, it was proved that the Salacia extract powder has the effect of ably increasing the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus originally contained in horses.

According to the present invention, the bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus, which are good bacteria, in the intestine of the domestic animal can be increased without externally administering bacteria, or preferably, harmful bacteria can be reduced. In addition, among bacteria called good bacteria, bacteria which lower an intestinal pH and impair the function of cellulose-degrading bacteria are also present, but in the present invention, preferably, it is possible to increase lactic acid bacteria which are good bacteria without ng an intestinal ing to the t invention, by administering at least one of the plant of the genus Salacia, the extract of the plant of the genus a, or the ground product of the plant of the genus Salacia to the domestic animal, it is possible to stabilize the intestinal environment of the domestic animal, to prevent or treat ive system diseases such as diarrhea and constipation, to relieve stress, to impart stress nce, to maintain health, to promote growth, to promote digestion and absorption, to improve feed efﬁciency, and/or to ameliorated a shape and odor of feces.

WHAT IS D IS: 1. A feed or a supplement when used for promoting growth of a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in horses, the feed or the supplement comprising an aqueous extract of a plant of the genus Salacia. 2. The feed or the supplement ing to claim 1, wherein an average pH of feces after ingestion for 6 days is 6.0 to 8.2. 3. The feed or the supplement according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an amount of acetic acid in feces after ingestion for 6 days is increased by 1.1 times or more as compared to an amount of acetic acid in feces before ingestion. 4. The feed or the supplement according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus is at least one selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus equi, Lactobacillus hayakitensis, Lactobacillus equigenerosi, Lactobacillus eckii, and Lactobacillus ingluviei.

. A method for promoting growth of a bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus in a horse sing administering an aqueous extract of a plant of the genus Salacia to the horse. 6. The method according to claim 5, n an average pH of feces after ingestion for 6 days is 6.0 to 8.2. 7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein an amount of acetic acid in feces after ingestion for 6 days is increased by 1.1 times or more as compared to an amount of acetic acid in feces before ingestion. 8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus is at least one selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus equi, Lactobacillus tensis, Lactobacillus nerosi, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, and Lactobacillus ingluviei. 9. The feed or supplement ing to claim 1, substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the Examples thereof.

. The method according to claim 5, substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the Examples thereof.