• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.998-1003
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• 2016

Although exogenous protease enzymes have been used in poultry diets quite extensively, this has not been the case for pig diets. In general, due to their better gut fermentative capacity and longer transit time, pigs have greater capacity to digest dietary proteins than poultry. However, in early-weaned piglets, the stress brought about by weaning adversely affects the digestion of dietary proteins. Therefore, a study was conducted to determine the effects of a commercial protease enzyme in weanling pigs. Indices of growth, nutrient digestibility, blood profiles, fecal microflora, fecal gas emission and fecal scores were measured during the study. A total of 50 weanling pigs ($6.42{\pm}0.12kg$) at 28 d of age were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 2 dietary treatments: i) control diet (corn-soy based) with no supplemental protease (CON), and ii) control diet+200 g/ton protease (PROT) for 42 d. A completely randomized design consisting of 2 treatments, 5 replicates, and 5 pigs in each replicate was used. Growth performance in terms of body weight ($27.04{\pm}0.38kg$ vs $25.75{\pm}0.39kg$; p<0.05) and average daily gain ($491{\pm}7.40g$ vs $460{\pm}7.46g$; p<0.05) in PROT fed pigs were increased significantly, but gain per feed ($0.700{\pm}0.01$ vs $0.678{\pm}0.01$; p>0.05) was similar between treatments at d 42. Relative to CON pigs, PROT fed pigs had increased (p<0.05) apparent total tract digestibility ($84.66%{\pm}0.65%$ vs $81.21%{\pm}1.13%$ dry matter and $84.02%{\pm}0.52%$ vs $80.47%{\pm}1.22%$ nitrogen) and decreased (p<0.05) $NH_3$ emission ($2.0{\pm}0.16ppm$ vs $1.2{\pm}0.12ppm$) in the feces at d 42. Except for a decreased (p<0.05) in blood creatinine level, no differences were observed in red blood cell, white blood cell, lymphocyte, urea nitrogen, and IgG concentrations between treatments. Fecal score and fecal microflora (Lactobacillus and E. coli) were also similar between CON and PROT groups. Overall, the supplementation of protease enzyme in weanling pigs resulted in improved growth rate and nutrient digestibility. Exogenous protease enzyme reduced fecal $NH_3$ emission, thus, potentially serving as a tool in lowering noxious gas contribution of livestock production in the environment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1729-1735
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• 2004

A total of 140 weaning pigs were used to determine the effects of digestive enzyme supplementation to corn-soybean meal diets on growth performance, physiological changes of small intestine, microorganisms and pH in the gastrointestinal tract. Two kinds of enzyme complex (A, B) were used in this experiment. Pigs were allotted in a completely random design (CRD) to five replicates with four pigs per pen. Diets and water were provided for ad libitum consumption. Treatments included 1) Control: without enzyme supplementation, 2) Enzyme A 0.05%, 3) Enzyme A 0.10%, 4) Enzyme A 0.15%, 5) Enzyme B 0.05%, 6) Enzyme B 0.10%, 7) Enzyme B 0.15% in the diets. A total of 24 crossbred barrows 25.78${\pm}$0.55 kg BW fitted with simple ileal T-cannulas were used to evaluate the effect the enzyme addition on the nutrient digstibility. Pigs were allotted 4 treatments (No enzyme, enzyme A 0.05%, enzyme A 0.1%, enzyme A 0.15%), 6 replicates according to a completely random design (CRD). Another digestibility trial was followed for enzyme complex B. Twenty pigs, average 31.92${\pm}$0.37 kg BW, fitted with simple ileal T-cannulas for digestibility trial. Neither enzyme A nor enzyme B affected on fecal or ileal digestibility of dry matter, gross energy, crude protein, crude fat and crude ash (p>0.05). The apparent fecal digestibilities of all the nutrients were higher in total feces collection method than in indirect method. At the end of feeding trial, 21 pigs were slaughtered for examining the morphological changes of small intestine and the concentration of microorganisms in the ileum and the colon. Growth performance, intestinal morphology and pH of ileum and colon were not affected by the either enzyme complex supplementation (p>0.05). These results suggested that enzyme complex A and enzyme complex B were of no benefit to early-weaned pigs when corn-soybean meal based diet was provided.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.1079-1088
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• 2003

This study was conducted to test the efficacy of the automatic liquid feeder(designated as NLRI) developed by National Livestock Research Institute, Korea for 7-day old early-weaning piglets. The other automatic liquid feeder imported from USA(designated as IALF) was used for a comparative purpose. A total of sixty piglets of 7 days of age were allotted to three treatments. The control group of 20 piglets was raised by their own sows until 21 days of age, while others were shifted to automatic liquid feeders of either NLRI or IALF on 7 days of age and reared during 14 days post-weaning. After then, all the piglets were fed nutritionally identical mash diets until 70 days of age. Compared with control group, body weight of piglets reared on automatic liquid feeders were lighter(P〈0.05) at 21 days of age [5.55kg (control) vs 4.97 (NLRI) and 4.98kg (IALF)], while heavier(P〈0.05) at 70 days of age(24.82kg vs 30.17 and 29.42kg). The results indicated that pigs reared on liquid feeding showed higher(P〈0.05) average daily gain than control pigs during the whole experimental period [346.7g (control) vs 425.8 (NLRI) and 416.1g (IALF)], while no difference was found in feed/gain (1.67 vs 1.78 and 1.84). There was no difference in growth performance and incidence of diarrhea between two automatic liquid feeders, NLRI and IALF. Compared with control group, intestinal villi tended to be shorter in liquid feeding group during the first week, but were recovered within two weeks. The results suggest that the automatic liquid feeder newly developed by National Livestock Research Institute, Korea can be successfully used for rearing young piglets weaned at very early age.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.995-1002
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• 2000

To evaluate energy efficiency and partition of nutrients, 32 piglets were weaned at 14 d of age and individually fed diets containing 15% fat from coconut oil (CO, medium chain saturated), high oleate sunflower oil (HOSO, n-9 series), soybean oil (SO, n-6 series), or linseed oil plus fish oil, (LF, n-3 series). After 4 weeks, the subjects were sacrificed to evaluate empty body composition and apparent ileal digestibility with the slaughter method. No statistical effect of dietary fat sources on growth was observed. The digestibility of fat from the coconut oil diet was higher than fats from the diets containing high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. The efficiency of use of metabolizable energy for growth averaged 63% and was not affected by the diet. Dietary fat composition was reflected strongly in backfat. Total body neutral and polar fatty acids were influenced too. For the whole body phospholipid fraction the ratio of n-6 to n-3 and the double bond index were 4.3, 5.8, 7.2, 0.78 and 69, 87, 89, 87 for CO, HOSO, SO, and LF respectively. These results show that for the coconut oil diet the degree of unsaturation of phospholipids in the body was lower and that, in the other diets, it did not differ, but double bond index was maintained with different n-6 to n-3 ratios in carcass fat. On the whole the data on body fat composition indicate that the dietary fat tended to be deposited in similar quantity in the body, whatever was the dietary fatty acid profile.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.825-832
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• 2010

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as "Any technological application that uses biological systems, dead organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use" Biotechnology has made tremendous contributions to improve production efficiency of agriculture during the last century. This article reviews successful examples of application of bio-fermentation in improving swine nutrition efficiency mainly based on the authors'z own research experience. Production of feed grade supplemental amino acids by bio-fermentation allowed nutritionists to formulate accurate feed for optimal lean growth and reduced nitrogen excretion. Recent issues with high feed grain prices caused potential feed quality problems. Bio-fermentation allowed nutritionists to use exogenous supplemental enzymes such as phytase and NSPases in swine diets, thereby improving nutrient utilization and reducing nutrient excretion to the environment. Yeast metabolites are also produced by bio-fermentation and have been repeatedly shown to improve milk production of sows during early lactation even though actual mechanisms are still to be investigated. Bio-fermentation technology also allowed nutritionists to prepare vegetable protein sources with large protein molecules and anti-nutritional factors suitable for feeding newly weaned piglets, as selected microorganisms significantly reduce specific anti-nutritional factors and size of peptides. Preparations of vegetable protein sources suitable for newly weaned pigs will greatly contribute to swine nutrition by providing efficient alternatives to the use of animal protein sources that are often expensive and somewhat against societal preference. Considering the few examples listed above, biotechnology has closely influenced improvement of production efficiency in the swine industry. As we have limited resources to produce meat to satisfy ever-increasing global demands, extensive adaptation of biotechnology to enhance production efficiency should be continued. However, at the same time, wise and careful application of bio-technology should be considered to ensure production of safe food and to meet the expectations of our society.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1268-1273
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• 2011

The present study was conducted to determine a feasible method of protein concentrate extraction from rice bran (RBPC) and its effect as a substitution for skim milk in early weaning pig diets. An investigation to extract protein concentrate from full fat rice bran was undertaken to determine the best ratio of water and rice bran, the amount of NaOH and a HCl solvent to use in a simple paddle-type mixer with modified spinning to produce RBPC. The results stated that the best ratio for water mixing in the RBPC extraction process was 1:5 with 20 g NaOH and 30 min in a paddle-type mixer at 300 rpm. A mix of 250 ml 0.2 N HCl was optimum for neutralization and protein precipitation. After the fluid was spun out with a washing machine, the sediment was left for 12-14 hours to complete the filtration. One kilogram of rice bran could produce an average of 324.5 gram RBPC and it contained 3.40% ash, 496.48 kcal of GE/100 gram, 1.94% crude fiber, 28.20% ether extract, 7.64% moisture and 16.66% crude protein, respectively. A total of 45 crossbred piglets, weaned at 3 weeks of age were allotted into control diet (A) and dietary treatments formulated with a four different rates of RBPC substitution for skim milk at a percentage of 25 (B), 50 (C), 77 (D) and 100 (E) respectively, in a randomized complete block (RCB) design. All piglets had free access to feed and water until 8 week of age when the experiment ended. Feed intake, average daily gain, growth rate and feed efficiency were not affected by dietary treatments. Blood test parameters after completion of the growth trial indicated normal health. Even though the mean of cell hemoglobin concentration was significantly different between treatments (p<0.05) it was still within the normal range. The cost difference for BW gain of 100% RBPC substituted for skim milk in the weaning diet was approximately 35% lower than that of the control and the relative cost of production was 96.67, 92.85, 70.75 and 64.48% lower for the replacement of 25, 50, 75 and 100% of skim milk respectively. These results implied that this technology is feasible for use by small scale farmers to improve their self-reliance.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.397-412
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• 2021

In Experiment 1, the impact of using diets sufficient in P on the performance of weaned piglet growth with or without a super dose of phytase was investigated. One hundred and twelve piglets were randomized into four treatments with 7 replicates (4 piglets·cage^-1). Bodyweight (BW), daily gain (ADG), daily intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratios (FCR) were measured over three weeks. Treatments included a positive control (PC) with a Ca : P ratio of 0.80 : 0.50%. and the negative control (NC) had a Ca : P ratio of 0.60 : 0.50%. The PC plus phytase was denoted as PC+, and the NC with the phytase diet was designated as NC+. The PC diet was formulated to meet or exceed the NRC (2012) standards for pigs weighing 7 - 25 kgs. Better results were obtained with the PC diet (p > 0.1) compared to the NC diet. The super dose of phytase in the PC+ diet significantly improved the overall FCR (p < 0.1). For Experiment 2, the impact of different calcium (Ca)/phosphorous (P) ratios with or without supplementation of vitamin D₃ was determined. Ninety-six piglets were randomized into four treatments with 6 replicates (4 piglets·cage^-1). The PC, NC1 and NC2 diets had ratios of 0.80 : 0.50, 0.80 : 0.45, and 0.60 : 0.45%, respectively. The fourth diet (PCV) was the PC diet fortified with vitamin D₃. Improved results were observed with the PC diet (p > 0.1) compared to the NC diets. Supplementing dietary 25-OH-D₃ in the PCV diet led to numerically higher ADG and ADFI scores with lower FCR values at the early nursery stage (p = 0.0044), but the vitamin supplement did not significantly influence the growth.