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Relationship between dietary fiber physicochemical properties and feedstuff fermentation characteristics and their effects on nutrient utilization, energy metabolism, and gut microbiota in growing pigs

Feng Yong, Bo Liu, Huijuan Li, Houxu Hao, Yueli Fan, Osmond Datsomor, Rui Han, Hai-Long Jiang et al.

Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, 2025

17 citations

Abstract

There is a growing focus on using various plant-derived agricultural by-products to increase the benefits of pig farming, but these feedstuffs are fibrous in nature. This study investigated the relationship between dietary fiber physicochemical properties and feedstuff fermentation characteristics and their effects on nutrient utilization, energy metabolism, and gut microbiota in growing pigs. Thirty-six growing barrows (47.2 ± 1.5 kg) were randomly allotted to 6 dietary treatments with 2 apparent viscosity levels and 3 β-glucan-to-arabinoxylan ratios. In the experiment, nutrient utilization, energy metabolism, fecal microbial community, and production and absorption of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) of pigs were investigated. In vitro digestion and fermentation models were used to compare the fermentation characteristics of feedstuffs and ileal digesta in the pig’s hindgut. The production dynamics of SCFA and dry matter corrected gas production of different feedstuffs during in vitro fermentation were different and closely related to the physical properties and chemical structure of the fiber. In animal experiments, increasing the dietary apparent viscosity and the β-glucan-to-arabinoxylan ratios both increased the apparent ileal digestibility (AID), apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD), and hindgut digestibility of fiber components while decreasing the AID and ATTD of dry matter and organic matter (P < 0.05). In addition, increasing dietary apparent viscosity and…

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