Effect of dietary inclusion of Achyranthes japonica extract on growth performance, fecal microbiota, fecal gas emission, nutrient digestibility, and meat-carcass grade quality traits in finishing pigs

Abstract

A 10 wk experimental trial was carried out to determine the effect of dietary inclusion of Achyranthes japonica extract (AJE) on finishing pigs’ overall performance. A total of 150 finishing pigs with initial body weight (BW) of 54.17 ± 2.27 kg were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments. The dietary treatments were CON (basal diet), TRT1 (basal diet + 0.025% AJE), TRT2 (basal diet + 0.05% AJE), TRT3 (basal diet + 0.1% AJE), and TRT4 (basal diet + 0.2% AJE). Dietary AJE supplementation linearly increased BW, average daily gain (ADG), and gain to feed ratio (G/F) during week 5. At week 10 and overall experiment, there was tendency for linear increase in BW, ADG, and average daily feed intake. Dietary supplementation of AJE failed to show significant effects on nutrient digestibility, fecal microbiota, meat quality, and fecal gas emission. The dietary supplementation of AJE showed a linear increase in the backfat thickness (BFT) at week 10, and there was no significant difference observed on the lean meat percentage. In summary, AJE supplementation had a beneficial effect on the growth performance, BFT, and also no effects on nutrient digestibility and fecal microbiota of the finishing pigs.