Blend of organic acids and fatty acids in diets of pigs

• Grant number: 12/15867-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2012
• End date: April 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Maria Cristina Thomaz
• Grantee: Maria Cristina Thomaz
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The project will aim to evaluate the effect of using a blend, composed primarily of medium chain fatty acids and organic acids on diet of piglets, through two experiments. In experiment I will be evaluated performance, transit time, incidence of diarrhea, weight of the organs of the digestive system, the pH and viscosity of the contents of the stomach, small intestine and cecum, the concentration of short chain fatty acids in the cecum and caracteristics morphological, physiological and microbiological in digestive tract. In this experiment will be used 96 weanling pigs from 21 to 63 days old, fed diets composed primarily of corn, soybean meal and a source of lactose, with inclusion of 0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5% of blend. The animals will be distributed in a randomized block design with four treatments, eight replicates and three animals per experimental unit. In experiment II will be evaluated performance, the concentration of fatty acids short chain, weight of the organs of the digestive system, carcass traits and meat quality. In this experiment will be used 36 animals, from 65 to 150 days olds, fed diets composed primarily of corn and soybean meal, with inclusion of 0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5% of blend. The animals will be distributed in a randomized block design with four treatments, nine replicates and one animal per experimental unit. For analysis, the data will be submitted to analysis of variance using the GLM procedure (General Linear Models) of statistical model SAS 9.2, and the averages of the first experiment compared by Student-Newman-Keuls (5%) while the degrees of freedom of the second experiment will be unfolded in effect linear, quadratic and cubic. (AU)