Effects of Medium Chain Triglyceride with Organic Acid on Growth Performance,Blood Profiles, Nutrient Digestibility, Intestinal Morphology, and Incidence of Diarrhea in Weaning Pigs

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of medium chain triglyceride with organic acid on growth performance, blood profiles, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, and incidence of diarrhea in weaning pigs. A total of 120 weaning ([Yorkshire x Landrace]) x Duroc) pigs (8.00 ± 0.870kg BW) were assigned in five treatments considering sex and initial body weight in 3 replication with 8 pigs per pen in randomized complete block (RCB) design. The first factor was two levels of MCT 0.1% or MCT 0.2%, and second factor was OA 0% or OA 0.1%. In the feeding trial, supplementing 0.1% MCT with 0.1% OA showed the greatest growth performance among treatments numerically. Also, supplementing MCT especially improved ADG significantly during each phase (phase 1, P=0.04

phase 2, P=0.01

overall period, P=0.01) and increased G:F ratio significantly during phase 1 (P=0.01). In blood profiles, there was no significant difference in cortisol, IgG, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-1β among treatments. Nutrient digestibility had no significant difference among treatments. The piglets fed with 0.1% MCT had greater villus height in duodenum and ileum, respectively during phase 1 (MCT, P=0.04

P=0.03). Also, 0.1% OA increased villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio during phase 2 (OA, P=0.01

P=0.04). No significant difference was observed in the incidence of diarrhea among treatments. In conclusion, supplementing 0.1% MCT with 0.1% organic acid improved intestinal morphology, thus it had positive influence on growth performance in weaning pigs.