Evaluation of essential oil or/and emulsifier in low energy density diets on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood cholesterol and meat quality in finishing pigs

Abstract

A 10-week feeding trial was carried to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with emulsifier or/and essential oil for finishing pigs. One hundred and twenty pigs were used with six pens per treatment and four pigs per pen. Dietary treatments include: (1) basal diet (BD), (2) low energy diet (LC), (3) LC +0.05% emulsifier (LE), (4) LC +0.05% essential oil (LO) and (5) LC +0.05% emulsifier +0.05% essential oil (LEO). Pigs fed BD and LEO had greater (p