Veterinary World (Feb 2017)

Effect of supplementation of lecithin and carnitine on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in pigs fed high-fat diet

  • Arathy Saseendran,
  • K. Ally,
  • P. Gangadevi,
  • P. S. Banakar

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2017.149-155
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 2
pp. 149 – 155

Abstract

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Aim: To study the effect of dietary supplementation of lecithin and carnitine on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in pigs fed high-fat diet. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 weaned female large white Yorkshire piglets of 2 months of age were selected and randomly divided into three groups allotted to three dietary treatments, T1 - Control ration as per the National Research Council nutrient requirement, T2 - Control ration plus 5% fat, and T3 - T2 plus 0.5% lecithin plus 150 mg/kg carnitine. The total dry matter (DM) intake, fortnightly body weight of each individual animal was recorded. Digestibility trial was conducted toward the end of the experiment to determine the digestibility coefficient of various nutrients. Results: There was a significant improvement (p0.05) among the three treatments on average daily gain, feed conversion efficiency, and nutrient digestibility during the overall period. Conclusion: It was concluded that the dietary inclusion of animal fat at 5% level or animal fat along with lecithin (0.5%) and carnitine (150 mg/kg) improved the growth performance in pigs than non-supplemented group and from the economic point of view, dietary incorporation of animal fat at 5% would be beneficial for improving growth in pigs without dietary modifiers.

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