title: Effects ofEcklonia cavaas fucoidan-rich algae on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology and caecal microflora in weanling pigs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In the present study, role of increasing levels ofEcklonia cava(seaweed) supplementation in diets was investigated on growth performance, coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of nutrients, serum immunoglobulins, cecal microflora and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 200 weaned pigs (Landrace×Yorkshire×Duroc; initial body weight 7.08±0.15 kg) were randomly allotted to 4 treatments on the basis of body weight. There were 5 replicate pens in each treatment including 10 pigs of each. Treatments were divided by dietaryEcklonia cavasupplementation levels (0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, or 0.15%) in growing-finishing diets. There were 2 diet formulation phases throughout the experiment. The pigs were offered the dietsad libitumfor the entire period of experiment in meal form.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pigs fed with increasing dietary concentrations ofEcklonia cavahad linear increase (p<0.05) in the overall average daily gain, however, there were no significant differences in gain to feed ratio, CTTAD of dry matter and crude protein at both phase I and phase II. Digestibility of gross energy was linearly improved (p<0.05) in phase II. At day 28, pigs fedEcklonia cavahad greater (linear, p<0.05)Lactobacillusspp., fewerEscherichia coli(E. coli) spp. (linear, p<0.05) and a tendency to have fewer cecalClostridiumspp. (p = 0.077). The total anaerobic bacteria were not affected with supplementation ofEcklonia cavain diets. Polynomial contrasts analysis revealed that villus height of the ileum exhibited a linear increase (p<0.05) in response with the increase in the level of dietaryEcklonia cava. However, villus height of duodenum and jejunum, crypt depth, villus height to crypt depth ratio of different segments of the intestine were not affected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest thatEcklonia cavahad beneficial effects on the growth performance, cecal microflora, and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Resources Science, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.
authors.forename: Yohan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Resources Science, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.
authors.forename: Abdolreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hosseindoust
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Resources Science, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.
authors.forename: Akshat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goel
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Resources Science, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.
authors.forename: Suhyup
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Resources Science, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.
authors.forename: Pawan Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Jha
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Resources Science, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.
authors.forename: Ill Kyong
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Resources Science, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Jo
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Chae
keywords: Ecklonia cava; Gut Microbiota; Gut Morphology; Performance; Weanling Pigs