Novel edible toys as iron carrier to prevent iron deficiency of postweaned pigs

The current preventive treatment for iron deficiency in pigs is inefficient, resulting in a high prevalence of iron-deficient or anemic postweaned pigs. The aim of this study was to develop and characterize edible toys (ETs) to be used as oral iron supplements, and to assess their effect on feeding behavior and iron status of postweaned pigs. Three types of ETs, varying in sweetness, were produced by ionic gelation, using whey, sodium alginate, ferrous sulfate and atomized bovine erythrocytes. ET control (ETC) was developed without sweetener, ET1 contained 15% w/v sucrose and ET2 contained 0.03% w/v of Sucram (98% sodium saccharin, 1% neosperidine dihydrocalcone and 1% maltol). ETs were mainly composed of carbohydrates and protein, with a similar concentration of iron (2.2-2.7 mg/g). The ETs were offered to 24 postweaned pigs to measure acceptability and preference. The animals preferred ETC and ET2 over ET1. To assess the nutritional benefit of the ETs, 24 postweaned pigs were distributed into three groups: ETC (without iron), ETC-Fe (ETC with iron) and ET2-Fe (with iron and Sucram). Iron-loaded ET (ETC-Fe and ET2-Fe) significantly increased the concentration of red blood cells (from 6.1 to 7.5·10⁶ x mm³ for ETC-Fe and from 6.2 to 7.8 for ET2-Fe), hematocrit (from 32.8 to 37.9% for ETC-Fe and from 32.3 to 35.1 for ET2-Fe), serum iron (from 28.6 to 120.6 µmol/L for ETC-Fe and from 34.9 to 145.4 for ET2-Fe) and serum ferritin (from 7.8 to 18.5 µg/L for ETC-Fe and from 8.1 to 20.2 for ET2-Fe). In conclusion, the ETs developed in this study were accepted by the pigs and provided adequate iron to improve the iron status of postweaned pigs.