RESUMO
Two studies were conducted to determine the impact of an absorption enhancer containing a combination of lysophospholipids, monoglycerides and synthetic emulsifiers (LEX) on apparent ileal digestibility, metabolizable energy (ME), and growth performance of growing pigs. In the digestibility study, 12 male crossbred [Duroc x (Large White x Landrace)] pigs with an initial body weight (BW) of 30 kg were randomly allocated to two dietary treatments: (1) a positive control (PC) receiving standard diets formulated to 3100 kcal ME/kg, and (2) a negative control formulated with −100 kcal ME/kg and −2.5% AA content vs. PC and supplemented with LEX at 500 g/t. Apparent ileal digestibility of essential AA was significantly increased for lysine, methionine, threonine, histidine, isoleucine and phenylalanine in the LEX treatment (p < 0.05). Average uplift in AA digestibility as a percent of the PC was +1.88%; with greatest improvement for histidine (+4.22%). LEX supplementation effectively compensated energy deficiency of low-density diet and provided additional ME improvement compared to the PC diet (p < 0.05). A second study was conducted to evaluate LEX dose response on the growth performance of pigs fed a low nutrient density diet. Total 450 cross-bred pigs (240 males (castrated) and 210 females) [Duroc x (Large White x Landrace)] with an average initial BW of 7.19 kg were randomly allocated into 4 dietary treatments: (1) a positive control (PC) formulated with standard specifications, (2) a negative control formulated with −100 kcal ME/kg and −2.5% AA content vs. the PC (NC), (3) NC + LEX at 250 g/t (NC + 250) and (4) NC + LEX at 500 g/t (NC + 500). Results showed significant improvement with LEX supplementation on the final BW, average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of pigs of >50 kg body weight. Across the study, NC + 500 significantly increased ADG vs. PC and NC, and significantly reduced FCR compared to all other treatments. FCR of negative control diets improved by 9 and 15 points with the supplementation of 250 g/t and 500 g/t of LEX, respectively (p < 0.05). FCR in the NC + 250 diet was statistically similar vs. PC, which was significantly reduced compared to the NC. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that the addition of an absorption enhancer containing a combination of lysophospholipids, monoglycerides and synthetic emulsifiers can improve growth performance in growing pigs, driven by increased nutrient digestibility and retention.
