Abstract
Zinc oxide (ZnO) is currently used as a dietary supplement to support gut homeostasis during the standard ‘abrupt’ weaning practices in commercial pig production. However, a replacement is urgently required as a ban on ZnO usage is imminent. The objective of this study was to explore the potential of a bovine casein hydrolysate (5kDaR) and yeast β-glucan, and their combination, as an alternative to ZnO. Eighty 21d old male piglets received a basal diet or supplemented with 5kDaR and yeast β-glucan alone or in combination, or ZnO from the day of weaning and were monitored for 10 days (n = 8/group; dietary groups: control diet; control diet + 5kDaR; control diet + yeast β-glucan; control diet + 5kDaR + yeast β-glucan; control diet + ZnO). Individually, supplement yeast β-glucan or 5kDaR did not improve gut health. In contrast, the yeast β-glucan + 5kDaR combination supplement supported a healthy gut, indicated by healthy faecal scores and improved growth parameters; similar to ZnO inclusion (P > 0.05). There was no negative effect on the gut microbiota with yeast β-glucan + 5kDaR supplementation; while ZnO negatively affected the Bifidobacterium spp. abundance (P < 0.05). The inflammatory NFκB pathway was suppressed by yeast β-glucan + 5kDaR supplementation, similar to ZnO (P > 0.05). In conclusion, the dietary supplement yeast β-glucan + 5kDaR restored homeostasis of the newly weaned piglet gut similar to the widely used ZnO, and can potentially replace ZnO.
Highlights
Weaning is typically initiated between 14–28 days after birth and is a critical period in commercial pig production systems
The hypothesis of this study was that a combination of yeast β-glucan and milk hydrolysate will support growth and gut health parameters similar to zinc oxide (ZnO) in a post-weaned pig diet
A healthy gut is associated with faecal scores between 2.0 to 2.5 whereas faecal scores of 3.0 to 4.0 represent diarrhoea scores and 4.5 to 5.0 represent severe diarrhoea that requires antibiotic intervention
Summary
Weaning is typically initiated between 14–28 days after birth and is a critical period in commercial pig production systems. The dietary inclusion of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) and/or high concentrations of zinc oxide (ZnO) have been used to overcome the anticipated gastrointestinal disturbances at this vulnerable time[6,7,8,9,10] Both the EU ban on AGPs and environmental concerns over the use of heavy metals have been highlighted by Sales[9]; driving efforts to identify natural bioactives with growth promoting and/or immunomodulatory properties which could be used to overcome these post-weaning complications[11,12,13]. The hypothesis of this study was that a combination of yeast β-glucan and milk hydrolysate will support growth and gut health parameters similar to ZnO in a post-weaned pig diet
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