Effects of Polyherbal Formulation As a Natural Replacer of Choline Chloride in Weaned Piglet Diets: Impacts on Performance and Blood Parameters
Effects of Polyherbal Formulation As a Natural Replacer of Choline Chloride in Weaned Piglet Diets: Impacts on Performance and Blood Parameters
Rhuan Chaves1, Diego Leal2, Ygor de Paula³, Andreia Vilas Boas4, Ana Toledo4, Sígfrid López-Ferrer5, Vinicius Cantarelli3, Cesar Garbossa2*
ABSTRACT
Choline is a vitamin-like nutrient that plays a crucial role in several biological processes. Choline is typically added to pig diets in the form of choline chloride. However, the use of this synthetic choline has some disadvantages such as high capacity to absorb moisture, oxidative loss of vitamins in feed and its metabolism generates a compound that can taint animal-origin products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of feeding diets containing natural choline (Kolin plus™ FC) as a replacement of choline chloride on performance and blood variables of weaned piglets. A total of 360 piglets with an average initial body weight of 6.33 ± 0.20 kg were utilized in a 41-day experiment. The experimental design followed a randomized blocks design, with three treatments and twelve replicates. Piglets were assigned to one of three treatments: Negative control (basal diet without choline chloride), Choline Chloride 60% (600 grams/ton supplementation), and Kolin Plus™ FC (20% choline chloride; Indukern, Brazil). Diets were formulated to meet or exceed nutritional requirements, and piglets had ad libitum access to feed and water throughout the experiment. The use of Kolin plus™ FC tended (p = 0.09) to improve the feed conversion ratio in the pre-starter II phase. No statistical differences were observed for the remaining performance variables. The mortality did not differ among treatments. There were no differences among treatments for any blood variable evaluated. In conclusion, the polyherbal formulation Kolin Plus™ FC successfully replaced choline chloride in weaned piglet diets without compromising the growth performance or health of nursery piglets.
To share on other social networks, click on any share button. What are these?
