PSVI-11 Effects of dietary supplementation of enzymatic bio-conversion of Scutellaria baicalensis extract as an alternative to antibiotics in growing pigs

Abstract

Abstract This study was carried out to assess the effects of dietary supplementation of enzymatic bio-conversion of Scuterallia baicalensis (SB) extract on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal microbiota, fecal gas emission, blood hematology, and antioxidative indicators in growing pigs. A total of 200 crossbred pigs [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] with an initial body weight of 24.52 ± 1.99 kg were used in a 42-day experiment with a completely randomized block design. Pigs were randomly divided into 4 treatment groups with 10 replicate pens per treatment and 5 animals per pen (2 barrows and 3 gilts). There were four diet conditions: 1) CON, basal diet; 2) TRT1, basal diet + 0.1% apramycin; 3) TRT2, basal diet + 0.1% SB extract; 4) TRT3, basal diet + 0.1% enzymatic bio-conversion of SB extract. The pen was taken as the experimental unit. Tukey’s multiple range test was used for evaluation of differences among the treatments. Compared with the CON group, TRT1 or TRT3 groups had higher final body weight (BW) (P = 0.074) and average daily gain (ADG) (P = 0.075), and lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P = 0.054). The apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter (DM) (P = 0.095) in TRT1 group was higher than that in CON group. Serum glutathione peroxidase (GPX) (P = 0.047) and glutathione (GSH) (P = 0.074) concentrations in TRT3 group were higher than those in CON or TRT1 groups. However, there were no significant differences in fecal microbiota, fecal gas emission, and blood hematology among all dietary groups. A positive correlation between apramycin supplementation in the diet and ADG and the ATTD of DM were observed. A positive correlation between enzymatic bio-conversion of SB extract supplementation in the diet and ADG and the concentration of GPX and GSH in serum were also observed.