IN VITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF SHORT- AND MEDIUM-CHAIN FATTY ACID SALTS AND THEIR COMBINATIONS AGAINST CAMPYLOBACTER JEJUNI

In the last IPPE 2020 (Atlanta) an in vitro trial was presented regarding the MIC and MBC of sodium butyrate protected with sodium salt of palm fatty acids distillate (GUSTOR N’RGY), sodium salt of medium-chain fatty acids distillate (DICOSAN) and their combination, sodium butyrate protected with sodium salt of coconut fatty acids distillate (DICOSAN+) against Campylobacter jejuni. The values of MIC50 showed that DICOSAN was the most effective bacteriostatic product (32 ppm) against C. jejuni followed by DICOSAN+ (256 ppm) and GUSTOR N’RGY (3,000 ppm). Regarding to MBC50, the trend was similar, DICOSAB was the most effective (96 ppm) followed by DICOSAN+ (256 ppm) and GUSTOR N’RGY (3,000 ppm). It is well known that butyric acid, a short chain fatty acid has strong antimicrobial activity against Gram negative bacteria. In contrast, coconut fatty acids distillate is a medium chain fatty acid source rich in lauric acid, which has strong antimicrobial activity against Gram positive bacteria. Both products are generally available as salts to facilitate the application in feed. In this study, the results showed that DICOSAN was the most effective product against C. jejuni, followed by DICOSAN+ and GUSTOR N’RGY. The activity showed by DICOSAN could be a consequence of its natural origin, with a complex composition including not only lauric acid (C12) but also caproic (C6), caprylic (C8) and capric acids (C10), all of them products with activity reported against Gram negative bacteria.