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Improper disposal of stevia residue causes environmental pollution and waste of resources, becoming a potential public health risk. For that reason, there is increasing attention being paid to the efficient utilization or proper disposal of stevia residue. The extract of stevia residue is rich in chlorogenic acid and isochlorogenic acids and has a great potential in livestock and poultry breeding. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary stevia residue extract supplementation on the performance, meat quality, antioxidative capacity and gut microbiota in growing–finishing pigs. For that aim, a total of 48 growing–finishing pigs (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) were randomly allocated to six treatments in a randomized complete block design. The treatments consisted of a basal diet without stevia residue extract or basal diet supplemented with 100, 200, 400, 600 and 800 mg kg−1 stevia residue extract. The whole trial lasted for 75 days.
The results showed that increasing the concentration of stevia residue extract supplementation linearly increased body weight from day 1 to 35. Supplementation with stevia residue extract significantly increased average daily gain from day 1 to 75. 100 mg kg−1 stevia residue extract supplementation significantly increased hot carcass weight and gastric index. Moreover, increasing the concentration of stevia residue extract linearly increased the score of appearance of longissimus thoracis, as well as serum albumin, triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol content. Further study found that increasing the concentration of stevia residue extract linearly increased serum total superoxide dismutase activity, and showed a significant quadratic relationship with activity of serum catalase, while linearly decreasing muscle malondialdehyde content. Furthermore, supplementation with 100 mg kg−1 stevia residue extract significantly decreased serum muscle malondialdehyde content, while 600 and 800 mg kg−1 stevia residue extract supplementation significantly decreased muscle malondialdehyde content. However, stevia residue extract supplementation had no significant effect on gut microbiota.
It is suggested that dietary stevia residue extract supplementation improves the performance and antioxidative capacity of growing–finishing pigs, being 100 mg kg−1 the optimal supplemental level of stevia residue extract in the diet of growing–finishing pigs.
Xiong Y, Liu S, Xiao H, Wu Q, Chi L, Zhu L, Fang L, Li Y, Jiang Z, Wang L. Dietary stevia residue extract supplementation improves the performance and antioxidative capacity of growing–finishing pigs. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 2022; 102(1): 8. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.11833
