Fat encapsulation enhances dietary nutrients utilization and growth performance of nursery pigs

Encapsulation of fat may facilitate digestion and absorption of fat in nursery pigs. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate 1) effects of encapsulation of palm oil (PO) and coconut oil (CO) on growth performance, feed intake, feed efficiency, and blood parameters, and 2) effects of encapsulation of PO and CO on apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrients, and the activity of digestive enzymes in nursery pigs. In Exp. 1, 540 pigs (28 d of age, 8.23 ± 0.22 kg BW) were allotted to five treatments based on a randomized complete block design (as-fed basis). Pigs were fed basal diets with five different fat sources: 6.0% soybean oil (SBO), 6.0% PO, 6.0% PO from encapsulated fat (EPO), 6.0% CO, and 6.0% CO from encapsulated fat (ECO), respectively, with six pens per treatment and 18 pigs per pen for a 4-wk feeding trial. Dried casein and whey powder used for encapsulation were included at identical levels in all diets. Pigs fed EPO had increased (P < 0.05) ADG during days 0 to 14 and overall compared to pigs fed SBO and PO, whereas ADG of pigs fed ECO was not different from pigs fed EPO and CO. There were no differences in ADFI among treatments. Pigs fed EPO had increased G:F (P < 0.05) during days 0 to 14 compared to SBO, PO, and CO. Serum urea nitrogen concentrations in pigs fed EPO, CO, and ECO were lower (P < 0.05) than that of pigs fed SBO and PO. In Exp. 2, 30 pigs (28 d of age, 8.13 ± 0.10 kg BW) were housed individually (n = 6 per treatment) and allotted to five treatments as described in Exp.1. Pigs were fed ad libitum for 4 wk to measure ATTD of diets weekly and digestive enzyme activity at week 4. Pigs fed EPO, CO, and ECO had increased (P < 0.05) ATTD of DM and GE compared to pigs fed SBO and PO. Pigs fed SBO had reduced (P < 0.05) ATTD of CP compared to other treatments. Pigs fed PO had reduced (P < 0.05) ATTD of ether extracts (EE) compared to other treatments. Pigs fed PO had greater (P < 0.05) trypsin activity in the pancreas than pigs fed SBO and CO. Pigs fed PO tended to have lower (P = 0.073) pancreatic lipase activity compared to other treatments, whereas dietary treatments had no effect on pancreatic amylase activity. In conclusion, this study indicates that encapsulation of PO improved growth performance and ATTD of diets in nursery pigs, whereas the limited effects of encapsulated CO were likely due to the high digestibility of the medium-chain triglycerides abundant in CO.