Abstract
Starch from cereal grains, pulse grains, and tubers is a major energy substrate in swine rations constituting up to 55% of the diet. In pigs, starch digestion is initiated by salivary and then pancreatic α-amylase, and has as final step the digestion of disaccharides by the brush-border enzymes in the small intestine that produce monosaccharides (glucose) for absorption. Resistant starch (RS) is the proportion of starch that escapes the enzymatic digestion and absorption in the small intestine. The undigested starch reaches the distal small intestine and hindgut for microbial fermentation, which produces short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) for absorption. SCFA in turn, influence microbial ecology and gut health of pigs. These fermentative metabolites exert their benefits on gut health through promoting growth and proliferation of enterocytes, maintenance of intestinal integrity and thus immunity, and modulation of the microbial community in part by suppressing the growth of pathogenic bacteria while selectively enhancing beneficial microbes. Thus, RS has the potential to confer prebiotic effects and may contribute to the improvement of intestinal health in pigs during the post-weaning period. Despite these benefits to the well-being of pigs, RS has a contradictory effect due to lower energetic efficiency of fermented vs. digested starch absorption products. The varying amount and type of RS interact differently with the digestion process along the gastrointestinal tract affecting its energy efficiency and host physiological responses including feed intake, energy metabolism, and feed efficiency. Results of research indicate that the use of RS as prebiotic may improve gut health and thereby, reduce the incidence of post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) and associated mortality. This review summarizes our current knowledge on the effects of RS on microbial ecology, gut health and growth performance in pigs.
Highlights
Nursery pig mortality is a complex interplay that involves the animal, and the environment, including diet and infectious etiologies [1]
Resistant starch is the proportion of starch that escapes small intestine digestion producing mostly glucose but instead undergoes microbial fermentation in the distal small intestine and colon producing short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)
Specific bacteria phyla are associated with fermentation of resistant starch (RS) and increased SCFA production butyrate
Summary
Nursery pig mortality is a complex interplay that involves the animal, and the environment, including diet and infectious etiologies [1]. Gut microbial mediators Plant cell wall polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, and resistant starches that are not digested by endogenous enzymes in the small intestine are degraded by microbial polysaccharidases and glycosidases to monomers such as glucose, which are fermented to produce SCFA (mainly acetate, propionate, and butyrate) and gases CO2, H2, and CH4 [103].
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