Maternal chitosan oligosaccharide supplementation during late gestation and lactation affects offspring growth

Abstract

Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), a natural compound derived from chitin, has growth promotion property. However, the nature of the relationship between maternal COS supplementation and offspring growth is not yet understood. Therefore, we intended to determine the effects of maternal COS supplementation in late gestation and lactation on the offspring growth performance. Twenty-four pregnant Yorkshire sows were distributed into two equal groups (n = 12) and fed either with a basal diet (control group) or a basal diet containing 100 mg/kg COS, from gestation day 85 until lactation day 21. Serum samples were collected from six sows of average body weight, from each group on farrowing day (lactation day 1) and lactation day 21, whereas colostrum and milk samples were respectively obtained on lactation days 1 and 21. We found that maternal COS supplementation significantly increased (p