title: Diet physical form, fatty acid chain length, and emulsification alter fat utilization and growth of newly weaned pigs.
abstract: 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 2(3) 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.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Developmental Nutrition, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695, USA.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Heugten
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Odle
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Odle
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000502:physiology; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000378:metabolism*; D004063:Digestion / Q000502:physiology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D007583:Jejunum / Q000502:physiology; D007657:Ketone Bodies / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D013552:Swine / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D014886:Weaning
chemical_list: D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids; D007657:Ketone Bodies