Profile

The research field comprises research within the microbial metabolism in feed and digestive tract of pigs and poultry with special focus on piglets and slaughter pigs. My research is concentrated on the study of how various feeding strategies affect the microbial ecosystem in the gastrointestinal tract and the effect on the production and health of the pig and on the development of zoonotic bacteria such as salmonella. The objective is to find suitable feeding concepts to strengthen the natural intestinal flora to enable pig production without using antibiotic growth promoters and large amounts of copper and zinc.

At present the focus is on how organic acids, probiotica, plant extracts and fermented liquid feed affect the microbial ecosystem in the gastrointestinal tract and the production results of the pigs, on the development of in vitro methods for quantification of the microbial fermentation in different sections of the gastrointestinal tract, and on studies of the significance of feed processing (grinding, heat treatment and pelleting) on the microbial ecosystem in the gastrointestinal tract and thus on the possibility of developing zoonotic bacteria.

Applied techniques: Anaerobic microbiology including isolation and characterisation of strict anaerobic bacteria. In vitro methods for quantification of the microbial fermentation in different sections of the gastrointestinal tract. Microbiological analyses of feed and intestinal samples using non-selective and selective cultivation techniques. Determination of salmonella in feed and intestinal samples. Measuring of microbial fermentation products (gasses, ammonia, short-chained fatty acids (SCFA), indoles and fenoles). Slaughter, production and digestibility experiments on pigs.