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The amount and composition of milk that a sow produces has a significant impact on the growth, health and development of her offspring. Folic acid is a B-complex vitamin, and has the single and important biochemical function in mammals to accept and release one-carbon units. This role is essential for the synthesis of purine and pyrimidine, protein and S-adenosylmethionine. Lactation increases the demand for folic acid to improve the concentrations of choline, creatine, creatinine and carnitine, as well as milk proteins in milk. Active proliferative cells such as those from the placenta, embryo, fetus or the newborn also increase the folic acid requirements of the dam. Therefore, folic acid is a very important nutrient for dam. The present research was conducted to investigate the influences of supplementation with different levels of folic acids in diet on the performance of lactating sows.
Twenty Landrace × Yorkshire sows received the same basal corn-soybean diets (folic acid, 1.3 mg•kg−1) from gestation to parturition (day 107). After parturition, sows were allotted to four treatments: control group (folic acid supplementation level, 0 mg•kg−1), group 1 (12.5 mg•kg−1), group 2 (50 mg•kg−1) and group 3 (100 mg•kg−1), with five replicates of one sow. The experiment lasted for 21 days.
Folic acid increased milk production (P > 0.05). Compared with the control, supplementation with folic acid (100 mg•kg−1) increased the concentration of butter fat, total substance and non-lipoid substance significantly (P < 0.01), the concentration of milk protein was also significantly increased in group 2 and group 3 (P < 0.01) in milk. As a result, folic acid supplementation increased litter weaning weight, average piglet weaning weight and average piglet daily gain (P > 0.05).
These results suggested that folic acid supplementation from 12.5 to 100 mg•kg−1 during lactation increased the milk production, improved milk quality and the performance of piglets. Metabolic pathways involved in the response of lactational performances to supplementary folic acid need to be investigated further.
W Sheng-Ping, Y Yu-Long, Q Yin, L Li-Li, L Feng-Na, T Bi-E, T Xiang-Shan and H Rui-Lin, 2011. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 91: 2371?2377.
