Effect of protected organic acid blends on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and faecal micro flora in growing pigs

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of protected organic acid blends on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and faecal micro flora in growing pigs. A total of 100 crossed [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] with an initial body weight (BW) of 23.4 ± 1.27 kg were used in a six-week trial. Pigs were randomly allocated into one of four treatments (five replications with five pigs per pen) in a randomly complete block design based on their BW. Treatments consisted of CON, basal diet; MC1, basal diet + protected organic acid 0.1%; MC2, basal diet + protected organic acid 0.2%; MC3, basal diet + protected organic acid 0.4%. BW and feed intake were measured initially and at the end of six weeks to determine average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and gain/feed. The digestibility of nutrients and faecal micro flora was also assessed at the end of the experiment. The pigs fed MC2 diet showed greater ADG and G:F than pigs fed the control diet. Linear effects for ADG (linear, P = 0.04) as well as G: F (linear, P = 0.03) were observed. Dietary supplementation with 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.4% protected organic acid did not affect dry matter, N and energy digestibility. Supplementation of 0.2% protected organic acid increased (P < 0.05) faecal Lactobacillus population counts (linear, P = 0.01). Our result suggests that protected organic acid has the potential to enhance growth performance and improve microbial population in growing pigs.

Effects of dietary protected organic acids on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal microflora, diarrhea score, and fecal gas emission in weanling pigs

“…These results are in agreement with our previous studies showing that dietary supplementation of POA can improved the growth performance of growing and finishing pigs (Upadhaya et al, 2014;Upadhaya et al, 2016). Consistent with our findings, some researchers have shown positive effects with single or blends of dietary acidifiers.…”

“…The OA can improve their growth performance and reduce the post-weanling diarrhea (Kiarie et al, 2008;Wang et al, 2009). In our previous studies, we have noted that medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) combined with OA can be considered as an alternative of additive to improve the performance growing pigs (Upadhaya et al, 2016), finishing pigs (Upadhaya et al, 2014) and sows (Devi et al, 2016).…”

Protected Organic Acids Improved Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, and Decreased Gas Emission in Broilers

“…Active ingredients such as citric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, and MCFAs are dispersed in a matrix of shell material, a lipid which can allow the active components to reach the intestine in an intact form, and be released slowly by the reaction of lipase from the intestine thereby showing beneficial effects to animals [10,28]. It has been previously reported that using the same product of protected blend of OA and MCFA supplementation in diets improved growth performance of piglets, and growing and finishing pigs [7,10,29] as well as laying hens [20]. In this study, we also observed that the BWG and FCR were linearly improved when broilers were fed the diets supplemented with the blend of OAs and MCFAs.…”

“…The increase of Lactobacillus population has positive effects on intestinal function by reducing the survival rate of enteric pathogens due to the low pH resulting from the acid produced by the fermentation of Lactobacillus. As the microbial pathogenic population becomes reduced, the metabolic requirements of the microbes is reduced and the availability of dietary energy and nutrients to the host animal is increased, leading to enhanced growth rate and feed efficiency [10].…”

“…To improve the retention time of nutrients and active compounds in food and drugs, microencapsulation or matrix coating technology was developed, which can slow down the release of those compounds through the gut, in order to enable them to reach the distal part of the intestine in appreciable and effective amounts [9]. This shows that protected organic acids are more effective in delivering OAs to the hindgut of pigs thus improving the growth of beneficial micro-organisms and inhibiting the survival rate of enteric pathogens [10].…”