A total of 768 1-d-old Ross 308 male broiler chickens with an average body weight of 43.64 ± 0.59 g were used in a 5-wk feeding trial. The chickens were distributed into 4 treatments of 12 replications per treatment with 16 chickens per pen. Dietary treatments included the following: TRT1, basal diet; TRT2, -40 kcal diet + 0.05% emulsifier; TRT3, -60 kcal diet + 0.05% emulsifier; TRT4, -80 kcal diet + 0.05% emulsifier. The emulsifier contained 80% sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate and 20% tween 20. In our study, the treatment diets had no significant effect on growth performance, meat quality, relative organ weight, serum lipid profiles, and excreta microbiota. However, the birds were able to grow as well with less energy when the emulsifier was added. The supplementation of emulsifier in the low-energy diet linearly decreased cholesterol (P = 0.099) and LDL/C (P = 0.074). The fat digestion of broilers fed with TRT2, TRT3, and TRT4 was significantly higher than broilers fed with TRT1 diet. Our study result shows that the emulsifier used for the experiment is beneficial in the low-energy diet of broiler chickens.

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This study was implemented to assess the effect of Pinus koraiensis extract (PKE) compared to zinc oxide on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, fecal bacterial count and fecal gas emission of post-weaned pigs. This 6-week experiment was divided into phase 1(d 1-7), phase 2 (d 8-21), and phase 3 (d 22-42). A total of 150 crossbred weaning pigs (BW; 10.14±0.78 kg) were randomly sorted in 5 treatment diets (6 replications/treatment; 5pigs/pen) presented as: CON, Basal diet; ZnO, CON + 0.30% zinc oxide; PKE1, CON + 0.05% PKE; PKE2, CON + 0.10% PKE; PKE3, CON + 0.15% PKE. Pinus koraiensis extract (PKE) supplementation linearly reduced gain to feed ratio (G:F) in all phases except phase 3. It also linearly increased average daily gain (ADG) in the overall experiment compared to the CON group. The increasing level of PKE supplementation brought linear improvement in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) of blood profile. E. coli bacterial count and NH3 gas emission were decreased linearly by PKE supplementation in comparison to the CON diet. Though PKE supplementation did not show similar influence as ZnO, it showed beneficial results in weaning pigs’ growth, nutrient digestibility, fecal bacterial count, and reduction of fecal gas emission.

One hundred twenty crossbred[(Yorkshire × Landrace) × Duroc] weanling pigs (8.36 ± 1.64 kg; 21 d) were used in a 42-day trial. Pigs were randomly distributed (6 replicate pens/treatment; 5 pigs/pen) to 1 of 4 dietary treatments: 1) CON, basal diet; 2) A1, CON + antibiotic (39 ppm tiamulin); 3) BG1, basal diet + 5 g kg −1 (β-glucan); and 4) BG2, basal diet + 10 g kg −1 (β-glucan). On overall, average daily gain of pigs fed with A1(385 g) and BG1(388 g) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) as compared to pigs fed with CON(342 g) and gain to feed ratio of pigs fed with A1(0.74), BG1(0.74) and BG2(0.71) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) as compared to pigs fed with CON(0.63). On d42, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter(DM) in pigs fed with BG1(83.35%) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) as compared to pigs fed with CON(81.36%). Meanwhile, ATTD of nitrogen(N) in pigs fed with A1(81.84%) and BG1 (81.35%) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) as compared to pigs fed with CON(78.54%) diet. Pigs fed with A1(8.21 log10cfu/g) and BG2(8.11 log10cfu/g) had significant higher (P < 0.05) Lactobacillus population as compared to pigs fed with CON(7.43 log10cfu/g). In conclusion, β-glucan shows a beneficial effect on growth, nutrient digestibility of DM and N, and beneficial microbial Lactobacillus of weanling pig.