Effects of dietary supplementation of Quillaja saponin on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal gas emissions, and meat quality in finishing pigs

Abstract

We evaluated the effects of Quillaja saponin (400 mg/kg) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal gas emissions, and meat quality in pigs when used as a supplement in a finishing pig diet. In total, 80 finishing pigs [(Yorkshire × Landrace) × Duroc] with an average initial body weight of 61.53 ± 4.41 kg were used in a 61-day study. Pigs were allotted to one of two treatments according to initial body weight with 10 replicate pens per treatment and four pigs (two barrows and two gilts) per pen. The dietary treatments consisted of (1) a basal diet (CON), or (2) a CON + 400 mg/kg Quillaja saponin (QS) diet. The growth performance and nutrient digestibility were not affected by supplementing the diet with QS. The ammonia emissions were decreased by Quillaja saponin supplementation (P < 0.05). Pigs consuming the QS diet had a higher meat water-holding capacity (WHC) (P < 0.05) and a lower meat drip loss on day 7 (P < 0.05) compared to pigs consuming the CON diet. Our results indicate that a diet supplemented with 400 mg/kg Quillaja saponin can improve the meat WHC and drip loss, and reduced fecal ammonia emission.