ORIGINAL PAPER
Effects of encapsulated and non-encapsulated
compound acidifiers on gastrointestinal pH and
intestinal morphology and function in weaning
piglets
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Engineering Research Center for Animal Disease Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry
of Education, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University,
Ya’an 625014, P.R. China
Publication date: 2010-01-29
J. Anim. Feed Sci. 2010;19(1):81-92
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The experiment was conducted to study the effects of the addition of encapsulated and nonencapsulated
compound acidifiers in a diet based on maize-soyabean meal-extruded soyabean
on gastrointestinal pH, growth performance, villus height and crypt depth of jejunum, intestinal
digestive enzymes activities, microbial population and intestinal mucosal secretory immunoglobulin
A in weaning piglets. Sixty-four 28-day-old, crossbred piglets (Landrace×Large White), weighing
an average of 7.00 ± 0.10 kg, were randomly assigned to four treatments with four replicates and
four piglets (2 male and 2 female) per pen, according to single-factor design principle. The feeding
trial lasted 35 days. The results showed that encapsulated compound acidifiers significantly reduced
the gastrointestinal pH (P<0.01), and improved the average daily gain and the feed conversion ratio
(P<0.05), but they had no significant effect on the average daily feed intake. In addition, encapsulated
compound acidifiers significantly increased the ratio between the villus height and crypt depth of
jejunum (P<0.01), and stimulated the sucrase activity and lactase activity (P<0.05) as well; during
the later weaning period, encapsulated compound acidifiers significantly increased the counts of
Lactobacillus and decreased the counts of Escherichia coli in the caecum and the colon (P<0.01);
it was also noted that there was an insignificant tendency of lower secretion of intestinal mucosal
secretory IgA (P>0.05). These results indicate that the encapsulated compound acidifiers improve the
intestinal morphology and function by reducing the gastrointestinal pH, so as to enhance the intestinal
adaptation and immunity, and consequently improve the growth performance of weaning piglets.
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