Study of the Application of Fructooligosaccharides in Piglets

Xu, Chuanlai; Chen, Xudong; Ji, Cheng; Ma, Qiugang; Hao, Kai

doi:2005.18.7.1011

Article

Swine Nutrition and Feed Technology

Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 2005;18(7): 1011-1016.
https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2005.1011 Published online November 26, 2005.

Study of the Application of Fructooligosaccharides in Piglets

Chuanlai Xu, Xudong Chen, Cheng Ji, Qiugang Ma, Kai Hao

Abstract

In this study, 90 crossbred weaned pigs (Duroc횞Landrace횞Large White) weighing ~ 7.86 0.06 kg each were randomly allotted to one of three dietary treatments. Control pigs were a fed corn-soybean meal diet with no additives. The two treatment groups were fed the basal diet supplemented either with 75 mg/kg Aureomycin or 0.4% fructooligosaccharides (FOS) in order to study the effects on performance, serological indices, and enteric morphology in addition to examining the content of volatile fatty acids in intestinal digesta. The results indicate that the diets containing FOS and antibiotics had a significant effect on feed conversion ratios (FCR) and diarrhea incidence, as well as increasing the concentrations of isobutyric and butyric acid and total VFAs in the caecum, and acetic acid, isovaleric acid, and total VFAs in feces. Supplementation with FOS also resulted in significantly longer mucosal villi height and a higher percentage of goblet cells compared with the control. No difference was found in crypt depth among the three treatments. While serum glucose levels were significantly higher following FOS supplement, differences in serum total protein, albumin, globulin, and urea nitrogen levels were not significant.

Keywords: FOS; Growing Performance; Enteric Morphology; Serum; VFAs; Piglet