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Benzoic acid may enhance growth performance via improving gut health through decreasing digesta pH and promoting Bifidobacterium and intestinal morphology development of nursery piglets. However, some authors suggest potential organ injury between 2.5 and 5% levels, therefore long-term studies are required. Two trials were conducted to study the efficacy of benzoic acid on growth performance of nursery and grower-finisher periods. A randomized complete block design was used. There were 3 treatments corresponding to 3 dietary levels of benzoic acid: 0, 0.3% and 0.5%. In experiment 1, a total of 144 barrows (7.1 ± 0.6 kg) were used and included 8 replicates per each treatment. In experiment 2, a total of 288 barrows (36.1 ± 3.6 kg of initial BW) were used and included 16 replicates per each treatment. There were 6 barrows in each replicate pen for both experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 lasted 28 and 70 days, respectively.
In experiment 1, ADG of all growth phases increased linearly with increasing supplementation of benzoic acid, which led to a linear improvement in average BW on d 28. A linear improvement was also observed in the feed conversion ratio of d 0 to 14 and in the average daily feed intake of d 14 to 28 and d 0 to 28. In experiment 2, ADG during d 0 to 35 and d 35 to 70 and average BW on d 35 increased linearly with higher levels of supplemented benzoic acid. The ADG between d 0 to 70 and average BW on d 70 increased significantly in a both linear and quadratic manner with the increasing benzoic acid. The feed conversion ratio improved linearly in all growth phases.
In conclusion, the inclusion of benzoic acid at the supplementation levels of 0.3% and 0.5% in the diet enhanced the growth performance of nursery and grower-finisher pigs in the current study. The nursery pigs responded linearly to the increasing levels of benzoic acid up to 0.5% while the grower-finisher pigs achieved optimal ADG at the estimated level of 0.36%.
Zhai, H., Ren, W., Wang, S., Wu, J., Guggenbuhl, P., & Kluenter, A. M. (2017). Growth performance of nursery and grower-finisher pigs fed diets supplemented with benzoic acid. Animal Nutrition, 3(3), 232-235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2017.05.001
