Satiating properties of diets rich in dietary fibre fed to sows as evaluated by physico-chemical properties, gastric emptying rate and physical activity

Abstract

A study was carried out using 4 diets to evaluate satiating properties of sow diets: a barley/wheat control diet (Con) and three diets with added dietary fibre (DF) from potato pulp (PP), sugar beet pulp (SBP) and pectin residue (PR). Diets PP and SBP were characterized by having a high content of soluble DF, whereas PR was characterized by a high content of insoluble DF. Swelling and water binding capacity were highest in PP, followed by SBP, PR and lowest in the Con diet. Four dry sows were used in a 4 × 4 Latin Square design and gastric emptying parameters as lag phase and gastric emptying half time was measured using 13C-acetate as marker for the liquid phase and 13C-octanoic acid as marker for the solid phase. The sows were placed inside a respiration chamber and 13C-carbondioxide was measured in the expired air. Feeding diets rich in soluble DF reduce the physical activity of sows and these satiating properties could be attributed to increased swelling and WBC in the stomach, which in turn delayed the gastric emptying rate of the liquid phase of gastric content. Measurements of gastric emptying turned out to be a practical tool for ranking of the ability of DF sources to reduce activity in sows.