Effects of L-carnitine and iron diet supplementations on growth performance, carcass characteristics and blood metabolites in fattening pigs

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary L-carnitine supplementation either with or without extra Fe supplementation from Fe-amino acid (Fe-AA) complex on body weight gain, feed conversion, carcass characteristics and blood metabolite concentrations in fattening pigs. The study was carried out with 75 fatteners (30-100 kg body weight), divided into three groups, of 25 pigs each. The control group was given a basal diet that contained 85 mg/kg of Fe from premix. A L-carnitine group was given a basal diet supplemented with 100 mg/kg of L-carnitine, and a L-carnitine+Fe group was given a basal diet supplemented with 100 mg/kg of L-carnitine and 60 mg/kg of Fe from a Fe-AA complex. The supplement of L-carnitine to the diets did not have any effects on the growth performance and carcass traits. The L-carnitine supplement decreased the concentration of triglycerides (p≤0.05), cholesterol (p ≤0.05) and low-density lipoproteins (p ≤0.01 ) in the blood serum of pigs, while it increased (p≤0.01) the concentration of high-density lipoproteins. The combination of L-carnitine+Fe increased the growth performance of growing pigs (p ≤0.05) and the lean percentage and fatless ham weight in carcass and also increased (p ≤0.05) the Fe content in the blood serum and the longissimus dorsi muscle of pigs. The results suggest the more effective outcomes can be reached when L-carnitine+Fe rather than only L-carnitine is used in diets. © Agricultural and Food Science.