0
A great number of medicinal herbs have been used as feed additives in pig production industry to stimulate the animal growth performance and prevent diseases of the digestive tract. Houttuynia cordata, which is widely distributed throughout the southeast of Asia, has long been used in many traditional medicines for their antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. In this sense, Taraxacum officinale has also several beneficial effects such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-allergic activity. A total of 144 [(Landrace x Yorkshire) x Duroc] finishing pigs with initial body weight (BW) of 50.09 ± 0.51 kg were used to evaluate the effects of H. cordata and T. officinale extract powder on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics and meat quality in pig. Pigs were allotted to 1 of 3 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design according to their sex and BW (12 replicates with 4 pigs per pen (2 gilts and 2 barrows)). Dietary treatments included: 1) CON (basal diet), 2) H1 (CON + H. cordata extract powder 1 g/kg) and 3) T1 (CON + T. officinale extract powder 1 g/kg).
Pigs fed H1 diets increased average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P < 0.05) compared with those fed CON diet throughout the experiment. The inclusion of T1 led to a greater ADG (P < 0.05) than CON treatment during the whole experiment. Administration of T1 improved (P < 0.05) ADFI compared with CON treatment during 0 to 5 and 0 to 10 weeks. Dietary H1 treatment led to a higher dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) digestibility than CON group (P < 0.05). Pigs fed the T1 treatment increased the N digestibility compared with CON treatment (P < 0.05). Supplementation of H1 led to a higher (P < 0.05) white blood cell (WBC) concentration than CON group at the end of 5 weeks. Both T1 and H1 treatments increased (P < 0.05) Longissimus muscle (LM) area and the 2-Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value than those in CON group.
In conclusion, the inclusion of H. cordata extract powder (1 g/kg) increased growth performance, DM and N digestibility, blood WBC concentration, meat LM area and TBARS value, whereas T. officinale extract powder supplementation (1 g/kg) increased growth performance, meat LM area and TBARS value in finishing pigs.
L Yan, QW Meng, IH Kim. The effects of dietary Houttuynia cordata and Taraxacum officinale extract powder on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics and meat quality in finishing pigs. 2011. Livestock Science, 141:188-193. doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2011.05.017.
