X
XLinkedinWhatsAppTelegramTelegram
0
Read this article in:

Effects of dietary L-carnitine and DDGS on growth, carcass characteristics, and loin and fat quality of growing-finishing pigs

A dietary supplementation of 50 ppm of L-carnitine improved some productive traits in finishing pigs.

3 July 2012
X
XLinkedinWhatsAppTelegramTelegram
0

Dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) is currently a common ingredient in swine diets; however, it can have negative effects on carcass quality because DDGS contains 10 to 11% fat. Because L-carnitine is involved within the energy metabolism in the body, it is theorized that dietary L-carnitine may increase the dietary energy utilization in DDGS diets fed to pigs and improve fat quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary L-carnitine and DDGS on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and fat and loin quality of finishing pigs. A total of 1,104 barrows and gilts (initially 80 lb) were used in a 109-d study. Pigs were blocked by weight and randomly assigned to 1 of 6 treatments with 7 replications per treatment. Treatments were arranged as a 2 x 3 factorial with main effects of added DDGS (0 or 30% in Phases 1, 2, and 3 and 20% in Phase 4) and L-carnitine (0, 50, or 100 ppm). Dietary treatments were corn-soybean meal-based and fed in 4 phases.

Overall (d 0 to 109), dietary L-carnitine improved (P < 0.02) ADG, which resulted in greater (P < 0.02) final BW with the response tending to be linear (P < 0.07). For F:G, a DDGS x L-carnitine interaction (quadratic, P < 0.01) was observed. This was the result of pigs fed 50 ppm L-carnitine, with no DDGS having better F:G than pigs fed 0 or 100 ppm, but in diets containing DDGS, pigs fed 50 ppm L-carnitine had worse F:G compared with those fed 0 or 100 ppm. In carcass traits, pigs fed dietary L-carnitine had greater (P < 0.02) HCW compared with those not fed dietary L-carnitine. The increase in dietary L-carnitine also increased carcass weight (quadratic, P < 0.03), carcass yield (quadratic, P < 0.07), and backfat (quadratic, P < 0.04), with the maximum response observed from pigs fed 50 ppm dietary L-carnitine. In loin quality, feeding dietary L-carnitine increased (P < 0.04) purge loss compared with pigs fed no L-carnitine, with the response being linear (P < 0.03). In jowl fat fatty acid profile, as expected, feeding dietary DDGS increased (P < 0.001) linoleic acid, total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids, and iodine value (IV) compared with feeding no dietary DDGS; however, feeding L-carnitine did not alter jowl fatty acid composition.

Feeding dietary L-Carnitine improved ADG and carcass weight, with the maximal response observed at 50 ppm, but dietary L-Carnitine did not affect loin or fat quality.

W Ying, JM DeRouchey, MD Tokach, SS Dritz, RD Goodband, TA Houser and JL Nelssen. Effects of dietary L-carnitine and DDGS on growth, carcass characteristics, and loin and fat quality of growing-finishing pigs. 2011. Swine Day, Kansas State University, 319-329.

Article Comments

This area is not intended to be a place to consult authors about their articles, but rather a place for open discussion among pig333.com users.
Leave a new Comment

Access restricted to 333 users. In order to post a comment you must be logged in.

You are not subscribed to this list pig333.com in 3 minutes

Weekly newsletter with all the pig333.com updates

Log in and sign up on the list

Related articles

You are not subscribed to this list Swine News

Swine industry news in your email

Log in and sign up on the list