Effects of microencapsulated organic acids and essential oils on growth performance and intestinal flora in weanling pigs

Abstract

Background: dietary supplementation with organic acids and essential oils has positive effects on growth improvement and nutrient digestion. Microencapsulation of nutrients allow for the slow release of core materials in a specific period and/or environment. Objective: to investigate the effect of microencapsulated organic acids and essential oils (MOE) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood and fecal characteristics in weanling pigs. Methods: one-hundred twenty-five weanling pigs [(Yorkshire × Landrace) x Duroc] with an average body weight (BW) of 6.76 ± 0.11 Kg were used in a 42-d experiment. Pigs were allotted to five dietary treatments according to initial body weight, using five replicates per treatment and five pigs per pen. Dietary treatments were: 1) NC (negative control): basal diet free of antibiotics; 2) PC (positive control), basal diet with tiamulin 39 mg/kg; 3) MOE0.5, basal diet with 0.5 g MOE/kg; 4) MOE1, basal diet with 1 g MOE/kg; and 5) MOE2, basal diet with 2 g MOE/kg. Results: final BW was greater in MOE2 and PC treatments compared to NC treatment (p<0.05). Increased feed efficiency (G:F) was observed for MOE treatments during 0 to 7 d compared with NC and PC (p<0.05). During 7 to 21 d, MOE0.5 and MOE1 supplementation decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI) compared with PC (p<0.05). However, there were no differences in average daily gain (ADG) and G:F among treatments (p>0.05). During 22 to 42 d, ADG was greater for PC compared with NC (p<0.05). The G:F of NC and MOE0.5 was lower than that of PC (p<0.05). Overall, ADG and G:F were greater for PC compared to NC (p<0.05). On 42 d, DM and N digestibilities in PC and MOE were greater (p<0.05) than in NC. Fecal scores of pigs fed MOE1 were lower (p<0.05) than those of pigs fed NC. Fecal pH was decreased in MOE0.5 and MOE1 when compared to NC (p<0.05) on day 7. Fecal pH was decreased with MOE compared to NC and PC (p<0.05) on d 21. Conclusion: MOE supplementation improved growth performance and nutrient digestibility while decreasing fecal scores and pH in weanling pigs.