Abstract
Dietary fiber is associated with impaired nutrient utilization and reduced net energy values. However, fiber has to be included in the diet to maintain normal physiological functions in the digestive tract. Moreover, the negative impact of dietary fiber will be determined by the fiber properties and may differ considerably between fiber sources. Various techniques can be applied to enhance nutritional value and utilization of available feed resources. In addition, the extent of fiber utilization is affected by the age of the pig and the pig breed. The use of potential prebiotic effects of dietary fiber is an attractive way to stimulate gut health and thereby minimize the use of anti-microbial growth promoters. Inclusion of soluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) in the diet can stimulate the growth of commensal gut microbes. Inclusion of NSP from chicory results in changes in gut micro-environment and gut morphology of pigs, while growth performance remains unaffected and digestibility was only marginally reduced. The fermentation products and pH in digesta responded to diet type and were correlated with shifts in the microbiota. Interestingly, fiber intake will have an impact on the expression of intestinal epithelial heat-shock proteins in the pig. Heat-shock proteins have an important physiological role in the gut and carry out crucial housekeeping functions in order to maintain the mucosal barrier integrity. Thus, there are increasing evidence showing that fiber can have prebiotic effects in pigs due to interactions with the gut micro-environment and the gut associated immune system.
Highlights
On a worldwide basis corn and soybean meal are the main staples in the diet for pigs and poultry, providing most of the energy and nutrients needed
There was an interaction between particle size and multienzyme supplementation on the total tract apparent digestibility of crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) in the post-weaning period, such that multienzyme supplementation increased the total tract apparent digestibility of CP and NDF in the larger particle size diet (80% vs. 75%, and 58% vs. 51%, respectively), while there was no changes in a small particle size diet (80% vs. 78%, and 59% vs. 55%, respectively)
Fiber utilization Impact of age Adult pigs have a more developed and larger GI tract, a lower feed intake per kg body weight, a slower digesta transit time and a higher cellulolytic activity than young pigs. This resulted in greater capacity of sows to digest fibrous components compared to young pigs [27] and it was shown that sows digest a larger part of the non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) in the small intestine than growing pigs [28]
Summary
On a worldwide basis corn and soybean meal are the main staples in the diet for pigs and poultry, providing most of the energy and nutrients needed. Fiber utilization Impact of age Adult pigs have a more developed and larger GI tract, a lower feed intake per kg body weight, a slower digesta transit time and a higher cellulolytic activity than young pigs This resulted in greater capacity of sows to digest fibrous components compared to young pigs [27] and it was shown that sows digest a larger part of the NSP in the small intestine than growing pigs [28]. Increased fibre level in the diet in combination with high soluble fiber content had a greater impact on the LAB count and the concentration of propionic acid in the ileum of MC pigs than of LY pigs [41] This suggests differences in the gut microbiota activity and/or composition between MC and LY pigs. Daily fructan intake was not correlated with HSP27 expression (P > 0.05)
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