Effects of Dietary Microencapsulated n-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Blood Profiles, Carcass Characteristics and Fatty Acids Compositions in Finishing Pigs

摘要

This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary microencapsulated n-3 fatty acid supplementation at different concentrations on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profiles, carcass characteristics and fatty acids compositions of muscle and adipose tissue in finishing pigs. Insufficient and unbalanced amount of essential fatty acids may cause a number of diseases such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases but high consumption improves growth performance, brain development and disease resistance. A total of 150 pigs with initial Body Weights (BW) of 55.66±1.42 kg were used in the 12 week experiment. Pigs were randomly allotted to 3 dietary treatments with 10 pens per treatment and 5 pigs per pen. The three dietary treatments included: (1) CON (basal diet), (2) FA15 (CON+1.5% n-3 fatty acid) and (3) FA30 (CON+3.0% n-3 fatty acid). Results of the whole experimental period showed that additions of 1.5 and 3.0% of n-3 fatty acid to the diet did not affect (p>0.05) growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood characteristics in finishing pigs. The Average Daily Gain (ADG) was 724, 743 and 754 g in CON, FA15 and FA30, respectively at the end of experiment. Pigs fed the FA30 treatment diet had a decreased (p<0.05)Longissimus Muscle (LM) area compared with those fed the FA15 treatment diets. Palmitic acid percentage of LM was decreased (p<0.05) by the FA15 and FA30 dietary treatments compared with the CON dietary treatment. Total n-3/n-6 ratio of both LM and subcutaneous adipose (s.c. adipose), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and total n-3 of s.c. Adipose in the FA15 and FA30 dietary treatments were greater (p<0.05) than those in the CON dietary treatment. In conclusion, there were no observed effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass characteristics in finishing pigs associated with microencapsulated n-3 fatty acid supplementation.