Journal
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE
Volume 91, Issue 2, Pages 783-792Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.2527/jas.2012-5307
Keywords
emulsification; fat digestibility; medium chain triglyceride; milk replacer; pigs
Categories
Funding
- North Carolina Agricultural Research Service
- Fats and Proteins Research Foundation (Alexandria, VA)
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An experiment was conducted to examine the interplay of diet physical form (liquid vs. dry), fatty acid chain length [medium-(MCT) vs. long-chain triglyceride (LCT)], and emulsification as determinants of fat utilization and growth of newly weaned pigs. Ninety-six pigs were weaned at 20.0 +/- 0.3 d of age (6.80 +/- 0.04 kg) and fed ad libitum 1 of 8 diets for 14 d according to a 23 factorial arrangement of treatments with 6 pens per diet and 2 pigs per pen. The MCT contained primarily C8:0 and C10:0 fatty acids, whereas the LCT mainly contained C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, and C18:2. Diet physical form greatly impacted piglet growth (P < 0.001), with liquid-fed pigs (486 g/d) growing faster than dry-fed pigs (332 g/d) by 46%. Pigs fed LCT grew 22% faster (P = 0.01) than MCT-fed pigs; however, effects of emulsifier were not detected (P > 0.1). Furthermore, feed intake and G:F were 15% and 29% greater for liquid-fed pigs, and intake also was 21% greater for pigs fed LCT (P = 0.01). Diet physical form had no effect on apparent ileal fatty acid digestibility, but as expected, digestibility was greater (P < 0.001) for the MCT than the LCT diet (98.5% vs. 93.4%). Emulsification improved digestibility of most fatty acids in pigs fed LCT but not MCT (interaction, P < 0.01). Both jejunal and ileal villi height increased from 7 to 14 d postweaning (P < 0.01). Liquid-fed pigs had greater jejunal crypt depth (P < 0.05) compared with pigs fed the dry diet; however, ileal morphology was not affected by diet physical form, fat chain length, or emulsification. Plasma ketone body concentrations were 6-fold greater in pigs fed MCT than LCT, and the difference was greater in pigs fed dry diets (interaction, P = 0.01). The bile salt concentration in jejunal digesta was 2.2-fold greater in pigs fed LCT than in pigs fed MCT (P < 0.001). Collectively, we conclude that feeding liquid diets containing emulsified LCT can improve fat utilization and markedly accentuate feed intake, growth, and G:F of weanling pigs.
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