Influences of different sources and levels of crude fiber on performances, fatty acids profile and carcass traits in growing-fattening pigs’ diet

Abstract

The present study has investigated the potential of including different sources and levels of fiber (6.5% and 7.5%) in growing-fattening pigs’ diet. The nine weeks feeding trial was conducted on nine hybrids TOPIGS castrated males with an initial average weight of 25.25±2.11 kg, randomly assigned to 3 experimental groups with 3 replicates per group. The control group (C) was fed with a corn, wheat and soybean basal diet and it was characterized by 3.5% crude fiber (CF), the experimental groups E1 had 6.5% CF (4% alfalfa meal and 12.36 % sunflower meal) and E2 had 7.5% (6% alfalfa and 18.38% sunflower meal) decreasing the dietary rate inclusion of soybean meal from C (21.42% soybean meal). Bodyweight (initial, final), average daily feed intake (ADFI), leftovers were registered and average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated during the experiment. At the end of the study, the pigs were slaughtered for the determination of carcass traits and meat quality parameters. The productive performances were not influenced by the source or level of the fiber content. The saturated fatty acid (SFA) values were significantly different (P<0.05) in E1 group for shoulder and belly samples compared to C and for breast samples on E2. Higher MUFA concentrations significantly different (P<0.05) were noticed for ham, sirloin, rack, shoulder, breast on E1. PUFA, Ω:6 concentration shown significant differences (P<0.05) within E2 to all meat samples collected, except the neck. The best carcass classification results were recorded in the E1 with 6.5% cellulose (50% Class S and 50% Class E) according to the SEUROP system classification. The study concluded that the dietary percentages of alfalfa meal and sunflower meal did not compromise productive performances but the average muscle thickness and meat percentage registered lower values compared with group C. Further studies with the same raw materials but changing the inclusion percentages should have experimented with emphasis on carcass traits results.

The addition of Allium mongolicum Regel powder does not appear to affect Firmicutes or Bacteroidota as core microbes in the Angus calf fecal microbiome

“…The gastrointestinal ora plays an important role in the digestion and absorption of nutrients, and the rumen microbiota is capable of degrading ingested cellulose. The digestibility of both neutral and acid detergent bres may re ect the ability of ruminants to utilize brous materials [32]; however, the digestion and absorption of brous materials are in uenced by the fermentation environment of the rumen, the composition of the diet, the residence time of the ingested material in the rumen, and the composition of the rumen microbiota [33]. An increase in the apparent digestibility of NDF re ects improved bre digestion in sheep, which was found to have a synergistic effect on increased apparent Ca and P digestibility [34].…”

High-fiber diets for fattening pigs

“…On the one hand, Carellos et al (2005) found that up to 16% sunflower meal can be included in the diet of finishing pigs without significant negative effects on productive performance. On the other hand, Cornescu et al (2021) assessed different levels of crude fiber (3.5, 6.5, and 7.5%), adding alfalfa (4 and 6%) and sunflower meal (12 and 18%) to the diet of finishing pigs. Productive performance was not affected by either the source or content of the fiber; however, lean meat accumulation decreased.…”