Abstract
Microbial fermented feed is an important part of feed industry, while little research has focused on the solid-state fermentation of complete feed. Herein, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of fermented complete feed (FCF) on the growth performance, biochemical profile, carcass traits, meat proximate composition, meat amino acid and fatty acid profile, and gut microbiome composition of finishing pigs, thereby providing references for the application of FCF in animal production. Twenty Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire pigs with an average body weight (BW) of 48.74 ± 1.49 kg were divided randomly into control group (pigs received a basal diet, CN, n = 10) and FCF group (pigs fed with FCF, n = 10). The experiment lasted for 60 days. FCF improved the growth performance, which was indicated by a significantly increased final BW, average daily gain and average daily feed intake, and a significantly decreased feed-to-gain ratio. FCF improved biochemical profile, which was indicated by a higher alkaline phosphatase, glucose, immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin M, superoxide dismutase, and total antioxidant capacity content. Pigs that received FCF had better carcass traits and meat quality than did pigs that received basal diet, which was indicated by a higher carcass length, crude protein content, lysine content, Glu content, C18:ln9c, C18:2n6c, C20:4n6, and unsaturated fatty acid content and a lower average back-fat thickness, C18:0, and saturated fatty acids. FCF significantly reduced the relative abundances of presumably pathogenic bacteria of phylum Proteobacteria and genus Escherichia–Shigella and enhanced the relative abundances of likely beneficial bacteria of phylum Firmicutes and genus Clostridium. In summary, FCF had a certain effect on the improvement of growth performance, serum biochemical profile, carcass traits, meat proximate composition, amino acid and fatty acid profile, and gut microbiome composition of finishing pigs.
Highlights
Nowadays, the researches of antibiotic substitutes, such as probiotics [1], antimicrobial peptides [2], Chinese herbal medicine additives [3], plant-derived phytochemicals [4], functional amino acids (AAs) [5], organic acids [6], and other functional additives [7, 8] without potential threats have become a hot issue in the field of animal nutrition
It showed that pigs fed with fermented complete feed (FCF) had a significant effect on growth performance, which was indicated by significantly (p < 0.05) increased final body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), and average daily feed intake (ADFI) and significantly (p < 0.05) decreased of F/G ratio in FCF group
Compared with the CN group, the FCF group had a higher (p < 0.05) serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), GLU, immunoglobulin G (IgG), and immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels
Summary
The researches of antibiotic substitutes, such as probiotics [1], antimicrobial peptides [2], Chinese herbal medicine additives [3], plant-derived phytochemicals [4], functional amino acids (AAs) [5], organic acids [6], and other functional additives [7, 8] without potential threats have become a hot issue in the field of animal nutrition. Chen et al [10] reported that Landes geese fed with fermented liquid feed had a positive effect on growth performance, relative organ weight, intestinal microflora, and organ antioxidant status. Previous studies were mainly focused on the liquid fermentation feed [10, 12] and solid-state fermentation of single feed ingredients, such as cottonseed meal [13], soybean meal [14], and cassava residue [15]; little research has focused on the solid-state fermentation of complete feed, especially the effect of fermented complete feed (FCF) on growth performance, and intestinal microbiome composition of pigs has not been investigated in detail. The present study aimed to study the effects of FCF on growth performance, biochemical profile, carcass traits, meat proximate composition, AA and fatty acid profile, and gut microbiome composition of finishing pigs, thereby providing references for the application of FCF in animal production
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