Effects of Fermented Pea-Wheat Ingredient Inclusion in Soybean Meal-Replacement Diets on Intestinal Adaptation, Gut...

Weaning disrupts intestinal structure and function in piglets and frequently results in post-weaning diarrhea, highlighting the need for effective nutritional alternatives to medicinal feed additives. This study evaluated non-fermented field peas and diets containing different inclusion levels of a fermented pea-wheat ingredient as substitutes for soybean meal in restricted liquid diets for weaned piglets. Fifty-six piglets were assigned to four dietary treatments for 14 days after weaning: non-fermented soybean meal, non-fermented peas, partial inclusion of the fermented pea-wheat ingredient, or full inclusion of the fermented pea-wheat ingredient. Fecal consistency, plasma inflammatory cytokines, small-intestinal morphology, crypt cell proliferation, and intestinal microbiota composition were assessed. Plasma interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α remained low and did not differ among treatments, indicating no measurable systemic inflammatory response. Diets containing the fermented pea-wheat ingredient were associated with differences in early intestinal morphology, particularly villus height on day 4 after weaning. Treatment- and segment-specific variation was also observed in crypt cell proliferation. Microbiota analysis showed differences in community composition among treatments, with diets containing the fermented pea-wheat ingredient associated with a higher relative abundance of lactic acid-producing genera. At the pen level, full inclusion of the fermented pea-wheat ingredient was consistently associated with low fecal scores, whereas partial inclusion was associated with higher fecal scores throughout the study period. Overall, these findings suggest that, under the controlled conditions of this study, diets containing the full inclusion level of the fermented pea-wheat ingredient were associated with indicators of intestinal adaptation and consistently low pen-level fecal scores. Further studies with replicated pen designs, longer-term performance evaluation, and functional analyses are needed before practical recommendations can be made.