Effects Of Phytosterol On Growth Performance,Meat Quality And Serum Biochemical Indices Of Finishing Pigs

Phytosterol is natural triterpenoids found in plant cell membranes,which have antioxidant,anti-inflammatory,immunomodulatory and hormone-like physiological functions.This present experiment was aimed to investigate the effects of dietary different levels of phytosterol on growth performance,meat quality and serum biochemical indices of finishing pigs.A total of 72 healthy "Large White×Landrace" crossbred finishing pigs with similar body weight(60 kg)were randomly divided into 3 groups with 3 replicate per group and 8 pigs per replicate(male:female=1:1).Pigs in three groups were fed the basal diet(control group),basal diet+90 mg/kg phytosterol(group Ⅰ)and basal diet+180mg/kg phytosterol(group Ⅱ),respectively.The experiment lasted for 75 days,including pre-feeding period of 7 days and fomal period of 68 days.The results showed as follows:(1)Growth performance: the average daily feed intake of pigs at days 1 to 32,days 33 to 68 and days 1 to 68 of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ were significantly higher than those of the control group(P<0.05),The average daily feed intake of pigs at days 33 to 68 and 1 to 68 of groupⅡ were significantly higher than that of group Ⅰ(P<0.05).The average daily gain at days33 to 68 of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ was increased by 16.14% and 20.24% compared with the control group(P=0.054),and the average daily gain at days 1 to 68 of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ was increased by 8.75% and 13.33% compared with the control group(P=0.096),respectively.There were no significant differences in ADG at day 1 to 32,body weight and F/G at day 1 to 32,33 to 68 and day 1 to 68 among all groups(P>0.05).(2)Slaughter performance: there were no significant differences in slaughter performance indexes among all groups(P>0.05).(3)Meat quality: the muscle shear force of group Ⅱ was significantly higher than that of the group Ⅰ(P<0.05),and the muscle shear force of the control group was no significant differences than that of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ(P>0.05).There were no significant differences in p H45 min,p H24 h,brightness L*1 h,brightness L*24 h,redness A *1 h,redness A *24 h,yellowness B *1 h,yellowness B *24 h,scoreofmuscle,marbling,storage loss,rate of cooked meat and waterloss among all groups(P>0.05).(4)Serum antioxidant index: the serum total antioxidant capacity of groups Ⅰ andⅡwas significantly higher than that of the control group(P<0.05).There were no significant differences in the activities of CAT,T-SOD,GSH-Px and MDA content among all groups(P>0.05).(5)Serum biochemical indices: the serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ were significantly lower than that of the control group(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in serum ALB content among all groups(P>0.05).(6)Serum immune indexes: serum immunoglobulin G of group Ⅱ was tended to be higher than that of the control group and group Ⅰ(P=0.058),and there were no significant difference in the contents of serum immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin M among all groups(P>0.05).In conclusion,The results showed that a supplement of 90 and 180 mg/kg phytosterols to the diet could,improve the total antioxidant capacity of finishing pigs,decrease the activities of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase to protect liver function,may offer potential benefits for growth performance of the host,and the impact of phytosterols on the slaughter performance,meat quality and Immunity of finishing pigs was not significantly affected.To maximize the comprehensive economic benefits,in this experiment,the optimum addition amount in the diet was 90 mg/kg.