Influence of Feeding Weaned Piglets with Laminaria digitata on the Quality and Nutritional Value of Meat

Abstract

Laminaria digitata is a novel feedstuff that can be used in pig diets to replace conventional feedstuffs. However, its resilient cell wall can prevent the monogastric digestive system from accessing intracellular nutrients. Carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) supplementation is a putative solution for this problem, degrading the cell wall during digestion. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of 10% L. digitata feed inclusion and CAZyme supplementation on the meat quality and nutritional value of weaned piglets. Forty weaned piglets were randomly allocated to four experimental groups (n = 10): control, LA (10% L. digitata, replacing the control diet), LAR (LA + CAZyme (0.005% Rovabio® Excel AP)) and LAL (LA + CAZyme (0.01% alginate lyase)) and the trial lasted for two weeks. The diets had no effect on any zootechnical parameters measured (p > 0.05) and meat quality traits, except for the pH measured 24 h post-mortem, which was higher in LAL compared to LA (p = 0.016). Piglets fed with seaweed had a significantly lower n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio compared to control, to which the higher accumulation of C20:5n-3 (p = 0.001) and C18:4n-3 (p < 0.0001) contributed. In addition, meat of seaweed-fed piglets was enriched with bromine (Br, p < 0.001) and iodine (I, p < 0.001) and depicted a higher oxidative stability. This study demonstrates that the nutritional value of piglets’ meat could be improved by the dietary incorporation of L. digitata, regardless of CAZyme supplementation, without negatively affecting growth performance in the post-weaning stage.

Plasma Metabolites and Liver Composition of Broilers in Response to Dietary Ulva lactuca with Ulvan Lyase or a Commercial Enzyme Mixture

“…However, other studies reported an increase of these minerals in the meat of broilers fed 15% of L. digitata {16] or U. lactuca [ 18 ], although within safe levels for human health. A similar result occurred in piglets fed 10% L. digitata [ 48 ]. In further studies, these minerals should be analyzed due to the well-known benefits of iodine in the general metabolism [ 49 ] and the toxicity of bromine [ 50 ].…”

Effect on Broiler Production Performance and Meat Quality of Feeding Ulva lactuca Supplemented with Carbohydrases

“…The total lipids and fatty acid profile in the meat were influenced by dietary U. lactuca, since there was a decrease in total lipid content with the sole use of macroalga and an increase in n-3 PUFA, mostly C20:5n-3, C22:5n-3 and C22:6n-3, with U. lactuca combined with ulvan lyase. A similar impact of macroalga on total n-3 PUFA in meat was reported when broilers [52] or piglets [52] were fed 15% or 10% of L. digitata, respectively, although without an enzymatic effect. In spite of the present results, lean meats, with an average of 1.89% total lipids (<5%) [53], were obtained for all treatments.…”

Effect of Laminaria digitata dietary inclusion and CAZyme supplementation on blood cells, serum metabolites and hepatic lipids and minerals of weaned piglets

“…To the best of our knowledge, and with the exception of the previously mentioned companion paper 16 , the use of L. digitata as a feed ingredient with 10% of dietary incorporation in weaned piglet diets has not been previously reported. Indeed, previous studies have shown that inclusion levels below 3% have generally no effect on animal performance 17 .…”

“…As already mentioned, we have previously reported the efficiency of a recombinant alginate lyase in degrading the cell wall in vitro 9 . Furthermore, a recent study by our research team showed that a 10% L. digitata feed inclusion and CAZyme supplementation led to high deposition of n-3 PUFA and minerals in pork 16 . Given that seaweeds have a well described bioactive composition 2 , with even immune modulatory traits, we hypothesized that a diet with 10% L. digitata (LA) could have beneficial effects on weaned piglet systemic and hepatic metabolism, and that these could be further improved by the supplementation of either the recombinant alginate lyase (LAL) or a commercially available CAZyme mixture (Rovabio ® Excel AP, LAR).…”