Abstract
Pars nonglandularis (PN) is the main affected area of gastric ulcers in pigs. Several factors are discussed to affect integrity of porcine gastric mucosa, but special emphasis is given to physical form of the feed. A total of 26 pigs (bw: 36.4 ± 10.5 kg) were housed individually and test diets were fed ad libitum for 3 days. The four diets used in this study were identical in botanical and chemical composition, but differed in grinding intensity (fine/coarse) and physical form (pelleted/meal). On day 3, animals were sacrificed 6 hours after free access to feed (after an overnight fast). The stomach was withdrawn in toto and frozen immediately at − 80 °C. A sagittal cut was made and samples of the frozen gastric content were taken from 15 standardized localisations to determine dry matter content, pH and chloride (Cl) concentration using standard methods. Physical form of diets noticeably affected quality and composition of stomach content. Marked effects were found in the PN. The finely ground and pelleted diet (FP) resulted in a more liquid chyme and a significantly higher Cl-concentration at PN in comparison to the results observed after feeding the unpelleted diets (CM/FM). There was no distinct pH gradient between the regions after feeding FP. However, the coarsely ground meal (CM) caused highest pH values at PN and low pH values at fundus region. Cl-concentrations at PN were markedly lower when pigs were fed the unpelleted diets (CM/FM). In pigs fed FP a significantly higher Cl-secretion rate of the upper gastrointestinal tract was found. Therefore this study shows clearly effects of grinding intensity and physical form of the diet on composition and quality of gastric chyme within the different regions of porcine stomach. The relatively high pH at PN after feeding the FP indicates that pH presumably is not the key factor for development of gastric ulcers in pigs at PN.
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