Investigating the Effect of Prawn Shell Chitosan on Pig Colonic Microbiota by Pyrosequencing

Obesity is alarming as the recent epidemiology study reveals that at least 2.8 million people die each year due to its adverse metabolic effects. Natural products has become an essential source of dietary supplement in farming industry since the EU ban on prophylactic antibiotics due to the alarming rise in antibiotic resistance. Evidence suggests that chitosan, a natural marine product has anti-obesity effects. Our study focussed on understanding the colonic microbiota using 454 pyrosequencing in two batches of pigs that were supplemented with chitosan and the basal diet respectively. The data supports the hypothesis that investigating the total colonic microbiome would help to understand the potential of chitosan as an anti-obsesogenic compound.