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Effects of dietary medium-chain triglycerides on the growth performance and the intestinal microflora in young pigs Wei-Kang Lai Abstract The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) on the growth performance and the intestinal microbial counts in young pigs. Ninety six young pigs (17 kg of body weight) were allotted to 4 treatments, 4 replicates per treatment, and 6 pigs per replicate. Pigs were fed diets supplemented (1) 6.0% soybean oil (SO); (2) 4.8% SO + 1.2% MCT (containing 25% C6:0, 48% C8:0 and 27% C10:0); (3) 3.0% SO + 3.0% MCT; and (4) 1.2% SO + 4.8% MCT for 28 days, respectively. Growth performance, apparent digestibility (AD) of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) and protein, and intestinal microbial counts were measured. The results showed that the dietary MCT did not affect the uniformity of final body weight, body weight gain and feed intake, however, supplementation of 4.8% MCT improved the overall gain to feed ratio of pigs (P < 0.05). Dietary supplementation of 1.2% MCT increased the small intestine Lactobacilli (L) counts, while supplementation 3.0 and 4.8% MCT decreased the stomach and cecum, and stomach and small intestine L counts, respectively (P < 0.05). Dietary supplementation of MCT did not affect the E. coli counts in every sections of the intestinal tract. The AD of MCFA was high (> 97%). Dietary supplementation of 3.0 and 4.8% MCT increased the AD of protein (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the ability of young pigs to digest the MCFA is high, and the dietary supplementation of 4.8% MCT could inhibit the stomach and small intestine L counts and improve the feed utilization efficiency of young pigs. 6
Key words: Medium-chain triglycerides; Intestinal microflora; Growth performance; Pigs 7