Abstract
Simple SummaryThe earlier establishment of a health-benefiting intestinal microbiota can be an important strategy to improve intestinal health and subsequent growth performance. Functional oils, such as castor oil and cashew nutshell liquid, have been studied for promoting intestinal health due to their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to investigate the benefits of supplementation of functional oils on modulation of mucosa-associated microbiota, enhancing the intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs. It was demonstrated that the functional oils enhanced the intestinal health of the pigs by increasing beneficial and reducing harmful bacteria and by potentially reducing jejunal oxidative stress and enhancing intestinal morphology. Our results suggest that the blend composed of castor oil and cashew nutshell liquid can be used in nursery pigs to modulate the jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota and intestinal integrity of nursery pigs.This study aimed to investigate the effects of functional oils on modulation of mucosa-associated microbiota, intestinal health, and growth performance of nursery pigs. Forty newly weaned pigs (20 barrows and 20 gilts) with 7.0 ± 0.5 kg body weight (BW) were housed individually and randomly allotted in a randomized complete block design with sex and initial BW as blocks. The dietary treatments were a basal diet with increasing levels (0.00, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, and 1.50 g/kg feed) of functional oils (a blend of castor oil and cashew nutshell liquid; Oligo Basics USA LLC, Cary, NC) fed to pigs for 34 days divided in two phases (P1 for 13 days and P2 for 21 days). Growth performance was analyzed weekly. On day 34, all pigs were euthanized to collect jejunal mucosa for analyzing the mucosa-associated microbiota and intestinal health, and ileal digesta for analyzing apparent ileal digestibility. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.4. Supplementation of functional oils did not affect the overall growth performance. Increasing supplementation of functional oils reduced (p < 0.05) the relative abundance of Helicobacteraceae, whereas it increased (p < 0.05) Lactobacillus kitasatonis. Supplementation of functional oils tended (p = 0.064) to decrease protein carbonyl and increase the villus height (p = 0.098) and crypt depth (p = 0.070). In conclusion, supplementation of functional oils enhanced intestinal health of nursery pigs by increasing beneficial and reducing harmful bacteria, potentially reducing oxidative stress and enhancing intestinal morphology, without affecting overall growth performance of pigs. Supplementation of functional oils at 0.75–1.50 g/kg feed was the most beneficial to the jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota and intestinal integrity of nursery pigs.
Highlights
Nursery pig’s face changes in dietary sources and the environment after weaning that leads to weaning stress increase the risk of post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) during the first week [1,2,3]
Some laxative effects have been reported to be orally administered [21], the cashew nutshell liquid increases the antimicrobial property of castor oil, allowing a reduction on the castor oil levels without losing the benefits associated with the antiinflammatory and antimicrobial activities [22,36], suppressing the laxative effects [19,20]
In previous studies utilizing the same blend of castor oil and cashew nutshell liquid, Murakami et al [19] and Bess et al [20] observed an increase in ADG and improved feed efficiency of broiler chickens fed a diet supplemented at 1.50 g/kg feed
Summary
Nursery pig’s face changes in dietary sources and the environment after weaning that leads to weaning stress increase the risk of post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) during the first week [1,2,3]. Post-weaning diarrhea is one of the most destructive problems to newly weaned pigs, impairing their intestinal health and subsequent performance [4,5]. Phytobiotics including essential oils and herbal extracts have been studied as alternatives to AGP for swine and poultry [11,12,13,14] to promote functions beyond their energy value such as restoring the impaired villus-crypt structure as well as improving carcass characteristics [15,16,17]. Castor oil, which is mainly composed of ricinoleic acid, is known to have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects when ingested orally by guinea pigs [18]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
