Institution: | aCentre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain bCentre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentaria (IRTA), 08007, Barcelona, Spain cAnimal Nutrition, Management and Welfare Research Group, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain |
Abstract: | The effect of different types of fibre on the intestinal digesta and microbial diversity was evaluated in growing pigs. The animals were fed during forty-two days with one of four experimental diets including a control group, a diet enriched with resistant starch type I, by coarse ground corn, and other two diets containing sugar beet pulp (8%) and wheat bran (10%) (as sources of soluble and insoluble non-starch polysaccharides respectively). Body weight (BW) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) were assessed at day 7, 21 and 42. Luminal samples of digesta from proximal colon were collected to analyse water retention capacity (WRC), concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and the microbial diversity. Overall, animals fed with higher amounts of non-digestible carbohydrates had lower ADFI and BW. Sugar beet pulp provoked an increase of WRC, a higher concentration of SCFA, and a more stable microbial diversity throughout the experimental period. On the other hand, animals fed with wheat bran presented a lower bacterial diversity. |