Foods (Mar 2022)

Influence of Feeding Weaned Piglets with <em>Laminaria digitata</em> on the Quality and Nutritional Value of Meat

  • David Miguel Ribeiro,
  • Cristina M. Alfaia,
  • José M. Pestana,
  • Daniela F. P. Carvalho,
  • Mónica Costa,
  • Cátia F. Martins,
  • José P. C. Lemos,
  • Miguel Mourato,
  • Sandra Gueifão,
  • Inês Delgado,
  • Patrícia Carvalho,
  • Diogo Coelho,
  • Inês Coelho,
  • João P. B. Freire,
  • André M. Almeida,
  • José A. M. Prates

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11071024
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 7
p. 1024

Abstract

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Laminaria digitata is a novel feedstuff that can be used in pig diets to replace conventional feedstuffs. However, its resilient cell wall can prevent the monogastric digestive system from accessing intracellular nutrients. Carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) supplementation is a putative solution for this problem, degrading the cell wall during digestion. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of 10% L. digitata feed inclusion and CAZyme supplementation on the meat quality and nutritional value of weaned piglets. Forty weaned piglets were randomly allocated to four experimental groups (n = 10): control, LA (10% L. digitata, replacing the control diet), LAR (LA + CAZyme (0.005% Rovabio® Excel AP)) and LAL (LA + CAZyme (0.01% alginate lyase)) and the trial lasted for two weeks. The diets had no effect on any zootechnical parameters measured (p > 0.05) and meat quality traits, except for the pH measured 24 h post-mortem, which was higher in LAL compared to LA (p = 0.016). Piglets fed with seaweed had a significantly lower n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio compared to control, to which the higher accumulation of C20:5n-3 (p = 0.001) and C18:4n-3 (p p p L. digitata, regardless of CAZyme supplementation, without negatively affecting growth performance in the post-weaning stage.

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