Effects of fenugreek seed extract supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, diarrhoea scores, blood profiles, faecal microflora and faecal noxious gas emission in weanling piglets

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary fenugreek seed extract (FSE) on growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD), diarrhoea scores, blood profiles, faecal microflora and faecal gas emission in weanling pigs. A total of 135 weanling pigs [(Yorkshire × Landrace) × Duroc] with an average BW of (7.96 ± 1.03 kg; 28 days of age) were used in a 42-day study. Piglets were randomly allotted to three experimental diets with nine replicate pens and five pigs per pen. Dietary treatments were as follows: CON, basal diet; FSE1, basal diet + 0.1% FSE; FSE2, basal diet + 0.2% FSE. Pigs were fed with phase 1 (0-14 days) and phase 2 (14-42 days) diets in the form of mash. Average daily gain (ADG) was linearly increased (p = 0.031) by FSE supplementation compared with CON diet during days 0-14. From days 14-42, FSE2 diet had increased ADG and growth efficiency (G/F) compared with the CON diet (p = 0.014 and 0.026 respectively). Moreover, ADG and G/F were increased by FSE supplementation during days 0-42 (linear, p = 0.037 and 0.014 respectively). Energy digestibility was higher (linear, p = 0.030) by FSE supplementation at 6 weeks. On day 42, dietary supplementation of FSE linearly increased red blood cells (RBC) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration (p = 0.042 and 0.038 respectively). Piglets fed FSE2 diet had higher (linear, p = 0.025) serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration compared with those fed CON diet. However, piglets fed FSE2 diet had linearly reduced faecal ammonia (NH ) and hydrogen sulphide (H S) gas emission compared with those fed the CON diet (p = 0.018 and 0.010 respectively). In conclusion, FSE supplementation increased the performance and reduced faecal gas emission in weanling pigs.

Effects of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecumL.) seed extract supplementation in different energy density diets on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics, fecal microbiota, and fecal gas emission in growing pigs

“…Furthermore, FSE contains soluble dietary fibers (SDF) rich in galactomannan (Bin-Hafeez et al 2002;Khole et al 2014). It has been reported that galactomannan isolated from fenugreek seeds can successfully reduce serum TC (Maisonnier et al 2001;Brummer et al 2003;Hannan et al 2007;Begum et al 2016). In the present study, SDF was not analyzed.…”

“…A previous study has indicated that dietary supplementation with plant extracts containing 400 g kg −1 of fenugreek extracts can improve the ADG of nursery pigs (Cho et al 2006). Moreover, it has been reported that FSE supplementation at 2 g kg −1 increased ADG in sows (Hossain et al 2015) and G:F in weanling pigs (Begum et al 2016). Other studies have shown that dietary supplementation with plant extracts containing saponin can improve the growth performance and feed efficacy of broilers (Johnston et al 1981;Griggs and Jacob 2005).…”

“…The plasma was separated by centrifugation for 30 min at 2000g and the aliquot was stored at −4°C until it was analyzed for immunoglobulin G (IgG), high-density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), and total cholesterol (TC) using an automatic biochemistry blood analyzer (HITACHI 747, Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan). The red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), and lymphocyte counts of the whole blood samples were determined using an automatic blood analyzer (ADVIA 120, Bayer, Tarrytown, NY, USA) according to the method described by Begum et al (2016).…”

“…Human and animal studies have shown that extracts from its seeds have hepatoprotective (Öner et al 2008;Baquer et al 2011), hypoglycemic (Hannan et al 2007;Baquer et al 2011), appetite stimulating (Petit et al 1993), hypocholesterolemic (Petit et al 1993;Belguith-Hadriche et al 2013;Hossain et al 2015), immune stimulating (Bin-Hafeez et al 2002), antineoplastic, anti-inflammatory (Öner et al 2008), antioxidative (Belguith-Hadriche et al 2013;Kenny et al 2013;Khole et al 2014), and antimicrobial (Windisch et al 2008) properties both in in vitro and in vivo. Various studies have shown that dietary supplementation with 2 g kg −1 fenugreek seed extract (FSE) may improve growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and immune status in sows and weanling pigs (Hossain et al 2015;Begum et al 2016). In addition, administration of FSE at a level of 2 g kg −1 has been reported to reduce fecal Escherichia coli counts, and fecal noxious gas emission in sows (Hossain et al 2015).…”

“…In addition, administration of FSE at a level of 2 g kg −1 has been reported to reduce fecal Escherichia coli counts, and fecal noxious gas emission in sows (Hossain et al 2015). These effects might be attributed to saponins that have been able to improve the growth performance of weanling pigs, broiler chickens, and fish (Johnston et al 1981;Francis et al 2001Francis et al , 2002Begum et al 2016). Moreover, FSE contains galactomannan, diosgenin, alkaloids trigonelline, trigocoumarin, and vitamin A (Maisonnier et al 2001;Bin-Hafeez et al 2002;Khole et al 2014).…”