Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

2024

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Animal Science

First Advisor

Jorge Yair Perez-Palencia

Abstract

In animal production, research is continually being carried out into implementing new feeding strategies, such as incorporating new alternative ingredients or additives that improve the quality of the diet, reduce the cost of diets, or have effects on intestinal health. The inclusion of branched-chain volatile fatty acids has been investigated in ruminants, and it has been found that a diet supplemented with BCVFA increases fiber digestibility as well as increases cellulolytic bacteria in the rumen. There is little information about the possible effects on pigs supplemented with BCVFA. According to this, the first study aims to evaluate the optimal inclusion level of an isoacid blend product (isobutyrate, isovalerate, and 2-methyl butyrate) based on nutrient digestibility and intestinal fermentation products in growing pigs fed corn-soybean meal diets. Dietary supplementation of isoacids improved (P < 0.1, linear and/or quadratic) AID of crude fiber and hemicellulose and most of the indispensable AA (except Met+Cys, Trp, and Val) as well as ATTD of CP, GE, neutral detergent fiber, and hemicellulose. In addition, ATTD of Arg, His, Ile, Leu, Met+Cys, Phe, Thr, Trp, and Val increased quadratically (P < 0.1). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of isoacids was 1% based on improved dietary nutrient digestibility, particularly ileal AA digestibility and dietary fiber. The second study was based on the results of the first study, and the objective was to evaluate the independent and interactive effects of dietary protein and fiber concentration on apparent ileal (AID) and total tract nutrient digestibility (ATTD), microbiota, and fermentation products in BCVFA-fed pigs. Pigs fed BCVFA-supplemented Normal Protein-High Fiber diets had the greatest AID for crude fiber, acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose, and the greatest ATTD for ADF (P<0.05). The AID of AA was increased (P<0.05) in pigs fed a Low protein - Low fiber diet unsupplemented compared to Low protein - Low fiber BCVFA-supplemented diet (P<0.05). Families belonging to the phylum Bacillota were influenced by dietary treatments, with Erysipelotrichaceae and Clostridiaceae 1 having higher abundance in low-fiber diets and Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae higher in abundance in high-fiber diets. In conclusion, supplementation of BCVFA enhanced dietary fiber digestibility, particularly at the ileal level, which was associated with improvements in digestibility of other nutrients and can be potentially mediated by microbiome modulation.

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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Rights Statement

In Copyright