Universitas Brawijaya (UB) confirmed Prof. Dr. Ir. Osfar Sjofjan, M.Sc from the Faculty of Animal Husbandry (Fapet), Saturday (05/08/2023). Prof. Osfar is the 16th active professor at Fapet, the 173th active professor at UB, and the 326th professor out of all the professors that UB has produced. He was inaugurated as a Professor in the field of Non Ruminant Animal Nutrition.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Osfar Sjofjan, M.Sc delivered his speech entitled “Probiotic Flour Biotechnology as a Feed Additive in Increasing Production of Laying Hens”.
The use of antibiotics as feed additives has been banned in the world, including in Indonesia. One of the substitutes for antibiotics is probiotics.
Probiotics are additional feeds that function to regulate microbial balance in the digestive tract of livestock, increase feed efficiency, egg production, and reduce egg cholesterol and serum cholesterol levels. In addition, probiotics are also able to inhibit the production of ammonia. So that it can be beneficial for livestock health and also increase growth.
Probiotics as a feed additive for laying hens currently circulating are mostly in liquid form. Liquid probiotics have many weaknesses and disadvantages such as being easily damaged, easily contaminated, difficult to pack, difficult to transport, easy to ferment, and difficult to mix in feed and can cause mold in feed.
Probiotic biotechnology in the form of flour with a combination process with encapsulation produces probiotics that are more effective, efficient and sustainable as feed additives for laying hens.
Probiotics are an important aspect of research for the development of feed additives and as a substitute for antibiotics, as well as chemotherapeutic agents to promote growth, increase productivity, quality of egg production, and improve the health of laying hens and become environmentally friendly farms with reduced odor pollution and flies.
Probiotics do not produce and cause negative effects, and do not spread microbial resistance, offering great potential as an alternative to antibiotics. [Irene/ UB PR/ Trans. Iir]
