Electrolyzed water as novel technology to improve hygiene of drinking water for dairy ewes

Effect of Slightly Acidic Electrolyzed Water on Growth, Diarrhea and Intestinal Bacteria of Newly Weaned Piglets

As an environmentally-friendly agent, slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) was introduced in drinking water of newly weaned piglets for diarrhea prevention. In total, 72 piglets were employed and 3% SAEW was added into the normal temperature and warm (30 °C) tap water, respectively, for this 33-day feeding experiment. It was found that the total bacteria and coliforms in the drinking water were reduced by 70% and 100%, respectively, with the addition of 3% SAEW. After SAEW treatment, the average daily water and feed intakes of piglets were increased during the first 16 days, and the diarrhea rate was reduced by 100%, with not one case of diarrhea recorded at the end of the experiment. The microbiome results demonstrated that SAEW decreased the diversity of caecum bacteria with normal tap water supplied, and increased the richness of the caecum bacteria with warm tap water supplied. SAEW also increased the abundance of potentially beneficial genera Sutterella and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005 and reduced the abundance of pathogenic Faecalibacterium. Moreover, twelve metabolic functions belonging to the cluster of metabolism and organismal functions, including digestion and the endocrine and excretory systems, were greatly enhanced. Correlation analysis indicated that the influence of intestinal pathogens on water and feed intakes and the diarrhea of piglets were decreased by SAEW. The results suggest that SAEW can be used as an antibiotic substitute to prevent diarrhea in newly weaned piglets.

Postantifungal-like effect of sublethal treatment of Candida albicans with acid-electrolyzed water

OBJECTIVE

Acid-electrolyzed water (AEW) has been applied to the treatment of oral candidiasis. We evaluated the postantifungal effect (PAFE)-like activity of AEW against Candida albicans under sublethal conditions by exposing C. albicans to dilute AEW.

DESIGN

The growth of C. albicans after a short-term exposure to dilute AEW was evaluated in broth and on agar culture. The involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the PAFE was examined by flow cytometric analysis with hydroxyphenyl fluorescein (HPF) as a fluorescence probe.

RESULTS

The dilute AEW exerted PAFE-like activity against C. albicans. ROS were produced in the cells treated with AEW diluted 16 times or fewer. The increase in HPF fluorescence after treatment with dilute AEW was cancelled by dimethyl sulfoxide, a hydroxyl radical (OH) scavenger.

CONCLUSION

It would be expected that the ROS, especially OH, produced in the C. albicans cells treated with sublethal dilutions of AEW could exert PAFE-like activity against the fungal cells.

Benefits of neutral electrolyzed oxidizing water as a drinking water additive for broiler chickens

In the wake of discussion about the use of drugs in food-producing farms, it seems to be more and more important to search for alternatives and supportive measures to improve health. In this field trial, the influence of electrolyzed oxidizing (EO) water on water quality, drug consumption, mortality, and performance parameters such as BW and feed conversion rate was investigated on 2 broiler farms. At each farm, 3 rearing periods were included in the study. With EO water as the water additive, the total viable cell count and the number of Escherichia coli in drinking water samples were reduced compared with the respective control group. The frequency of treatment days was represented by the number of used daily doses per population and showed lower values in EO-water-treated groups at both farms. Furthermore, the addition of EO water resulted in a lower mortality rate. In terms of analyzed performance parameters, no significant differences were determined. In this study, the use of EO water improved drinking water quality and seemed to reduce the drug use without showing negative effects on performance parameters and mortality rates.