Polyphenols as a partial replacement for vitamin E in nursery pig diets

Area of Science:

• Animal Nutrition
• Biochemistry
• Agricultural Science

Background:

• Vitamin E is crucial for animal health, acting as an antioxidant.
• Polyphenols are plant-derived compounds with antioxidant properties.
• Investigating polyphenol efficacy as a partial or complete replacement for vitamin E in swine diets is warranted.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the effects of varying vitamin E levels and partial replacement with polyphenol on pig growth performance.
• To evaluate the impact on blood parameters, including thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity.
• To assess serum cytokine profiles and identify potential benefits or drawbacks of polyphenol inclusion.

Main Methods:

• 300 pigs were fed one of five dietary treatments for 42 days.
• Treatments included varying levels of vitamin E and polyphenol, including replacement strategies.
• Growth performance, blood counts, TBARS, SOD, and cytokine panels were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Increasing vitamin E equivalence tended to improve gain-to-feed ratio (G:F).
• A significant interaction between vitamin E equivalence and day was observed for serum SOD activity.
• Serum SOD activity increased with higher vitamin E equivalence on day 42.
• No significant differences in cytokines or response variables were found between polyphenol replacement strategies.

Conclusions:

• Increasing vitamin E equivalence can enhance G:F, potentially linked to improved SOD activity.
• Polyphenol can effectively replace vitamin E above the requirement, offering similar benefits.
• No negative effects were observed when feeding nursery pigs high levels of polyphenol.