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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effects of dietary phytase supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood metabolites of weaned piglets

Elick Kinara A # , Habeeb Tajudeen A # , Abdolreza Hosseindoust A , Jun Young Mun A , Sang Hun Ha A , Se Rin Park A , Choon Han Lee B , Lakshmibai Vasanthakumari Bindhu B , Justin Tan B and Jin Soo Kim https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9518-7917 A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Animal Industry Convergence, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea.

B Kemin Industries, 1900 Scott Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50317, USA.

* Correspondence to: kjs896@kangwon.ac.kr

# These authors contributed equally to this work

Handling Editor: Cormac O’Shea

Animal Production Science 64, AN23258 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN23258
Submitted: 8 August 2023  Accepted: 10 October 2024  Published: 29 October 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context

Phytase plays a crucial role in the nutrition of piglets. Incorporating phytase into weaner pigs’ diet may alleviate the anti-nutritional effect by catalyzing the hydrolysis of phytic acid. As a result, bounded phosphorus and other minerals become more available for absorption, thereby enhancing nutrient utilization growth performance.

Aims

This study evaluated the efficacy of dietary phytase supplementation on the performance of weaned piglets.

Methods

Two hundred and forty cross-bred piglets (Yorkshire × Landrace × Duroc), of initial average bodyweight (BW) of 5.57 ± 1 kg at weaning, were assigned to five dietary treatments in a complete randomized block design. The study was conducted in the following three phases: Phase 1 (Days 1–7), Phase 2 (Days 8–21), and Phase 3 (Days 22–35). The treatments included basal diet containing 0.15% lower concentration of both total calcium and total phosphorus (NC), a standard basal diet (PC), NC + 500 phytase units per kilogram of feed (NC500), NC + 1000 phytase units per kilogram of feed (NC1000), and NC + 1500 phytase units per kilogram of feed (NC1500).

Key results

In Phase 1, the final BW was higher (P < 0.01) in PC and the phytase-supplemented diets than in the NC treatment. In Phase 2, Phase 3, and the overall days the average daily gain (ADG) and gain-to-feed ratio (G:F) were greater (P < 0.05) in the PC and the phytase-supplemented diets than in the NC treatments. The ADG and G:F were also higher (P < 0.01) in the phytase-supplemented diets than in the NC treatment. The digestibility of calcium, phosphorus, and blood myo-inositol was higher (P < 0.05) in the phytase-supplemented diets than in the NC treatment in Phase 2. In Phase 3, the level of blood myo-inositol was higher (P < 0.01) in the phytase-supplemented diets than in NC. Fecal inositol hexakisphosphate was lower (P < 0.01) in the phytase-supplemented diets than in NC in both Phases 1 and 2.

Conclusion

Dietary supplementation of phytase increased the digestibility of phytate by releasing phosphorus, calcium, and myo-inositol concentration, leading to improved growth performance.

Implications

Inclusion of phytase in pig diets can help farmers save money on feed additives such as phosphorus, improve environmental sustainability, and promote better growth performance.

Keywords: calcium, digestibility, fecal score, myo-inositol, phosphate, phytate, pigs, weaning.

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