Evaluation of Pelleting and Banana Meal as the Nutritional and Physical Agent to Improve Feed Efficiency in Weaning Pigs

Abstract

The worlds feed market has been rapidly changing to meet the demand and taste of consumers. To survive in competitive market, the efficient feed production is necessary and the adequate feed processing such as pelleting has been highly considered in swine production. Moreover, the banana as prebiotics can be supplemented to reduce the diarrhea, the most frequent economic damage in post-weaned pigs. In this literature, it is evaluated that the pelleting could improve the feed efficiency to compare the mash feed in weaning pigs which are not being organized in digestive system. Secondly, as a new ingredient of swine diet, nutritional value and supplementation effect of banana meal (BM) are evaluated by growth performance and metabolism in weaning pig. A total of 168 weaning pigs (28 ± 3 old and 7.98 ± 0.83 kg of BW) were allotted into 4 treatments with 6 replicates of 7 piglets per pen in a randomized complete block (RCB) design. This experiment was conducted with 2x2 factorial design. The first factor was feed type (mash or pellet) and the second factor was banana supplementation level (0 or 3%). Two phase feeding trials (phase Ⅰ for 0-2 week and phase Ⅱ for 3-5 week) were conducted in this study. In feeding trial, body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) from 0 to 2 wk were affected by feed type and ADG from 2 to 5 wk were subsequently shown to be increased when banana meal was supplemented (P<0.05). The feed consumption of the pigs was improved by addition of banana meal from 2 to 5 wk (P<0.05) and the G/F ratio was higher when diets were pelleted during phase I (0-2 wk) and the whole experimental period (0-5 wk), resulting in significant difference (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in nutrient digestibilities, nitrogen retention, blood metabolites, and fecal VFA concentrations. In the results of moisture contents of feces, the response by addition of BM was observed, resulting in lower moisture content of feces in pigs fed BM diet (P<0.05). The content of E. coli was significantly decreased at 2 week (P<0.05) and the content of Lactobacillus at 2 and 5 wk tended to be increased (P<0.09) when pigs were fed diets containing BM. Based upon this experiment, 3% banana powder can be supplemented with the positive effect on weight gain, feed consumption and fecal microflora subsequently pellet type can be expected to maximize the feed efficiency in weaning pig. Consequently this experiment demonstrated that banana powder can be supplemented without any detrimental response in growth and pelleting showed improvement in both growth and feed efficiency in weaning pig.