Abstract
Tributyrin and essential oils have been used as alternatives to antimicrobials to improve gut health and growth performance in piglets. This study was to evaluate the effects of a dietary supplement with two encapsulated products containing different combinations of tributyrin with oregano or with methyl salicylate on growth performance, serum biochemical parameters related to the physiological status, intestinal microbiota and metabolites of piglets. A total of 108 weaned crossbred piglets (Yorkshire × Landrace, 21 ± 1 d, 8.21 ± 0.04 kg) were randomly divided into three groups. Piglets were fed with one of the following diets for 5 weeks: a basal diet as the control (CON); the control diet supplemented with an encapsulated mixture containing 30% of methyl salicylate and tributyrin at a dosage of 3 kg/t (CMT); and the control diet supplemented with an encapsulated mixture containing 30% of oregano oil and tributyrin at a dosage of 3 kg/t (COT). At the end of the feeding trial, six piglets from each group were slaughtered to collect blood and gut samples for physiological status and gut microbiological analysis. The study found that the CMT group was larger in feed intake (FI) (p < 0.05), average daily gain (ADG) (p = 0.09), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) (p < 0.05), blood total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (p < 0.05), and crypt depth in the ileum (p < 0.05) compared with the CON group. The genus abundance of Tissierella and Campylobacter in the CMT group was significantly decreased compared with the CON group. The CMT group also resulted in significantly higher activity in amino acid metabolism and arginine biosynthesis compared with the CON group. The COT group was larger in T-AOC, and the genus abundance of Streptophyta and Chlamydia was significantly increased in the ileum compared with the CON group. Data analysis found a significantly high correlation between the genus abundance of Chlamydia and that of Campylobacter in the ileum. The genus abundance of Campylobacter was also positively correlated with the sorbitol level. In general, the results indicated that the supplementation of both encapsulated mixtures in diet of weaned piglets could improve the animal blood antioxidant capacity. Additionally, the encapsulated mixture of methyl salicylate plus tributyrin improved the growth performance and resulted in certain corresponding changes in nutrient metabolism and in the genus abundance of ileum microbial community.
Highlights
The piglets were fed with a base diet as the control (CON), an antibiotic-free basal diet composed based on NRC weaned piglet nutritional standards, or the control supplemented with an encapsulated mixture containing 30% of methyl salicylate and tributyrin at a dosage of 3 kg/t (CMT); and the control diet supplemented with an encapsulated mixture containing 30% oregano oil and tributyrin at a dosage of
The CMT group was larger in the feed intake (FI) compared with the CON group (p < 0.05) and the COT group (p < 0.05), which increased by 13.9% and 11.6% respectively (Figure 1C)
The difference on feed to gain ratio among the groups was not significant, the CMT group slightly reduced it by 1.5% whereas the COT group increased it by 1.7%
Summary
There were growing evidence that the stress response caused by weaning would destroy the anti-oxidative balance [1], caused intestinal inflammation and damaged the Microorganisms 2021, 9, 1342. The compatibility of organic acids and plant essential oils to mitigate the negative effects of weaning stress at a lower cost had attracted much attention [4]. Tributyrin, as a source of butyrate, that one molecule releases three molecules of butyrate directly in the small intestine, could be used as an effective feed additive for weaned piglets to improve performance and intestinal health of piglets [6]. Tributyrin has acceptable organoleptic characteristics and provides a higher and slowly released source of butyric acid in the small intestine [7].
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