A complete randomised block design experiment was conducted to examine the effects of mushroom powder (MP) and vitamin D2 -enriched mushroom powder (MPD2 ) on growth performance, faecal scores, coefficient of apparent total tract digestibility (CATTD) of nutrients and selected microflora in weaned pigs up to day 35 post-weaning. One hundred and ninety-two weaned pigs (7.8kg [SD 1.08kg]) were blocked according to live weight, sex and litter of origin and randomly assigned to the following: (T1) control diet; (T2) control diet +MP; (T3) control diet + MPD2 ; and (T4) control diet +zinc oxide (ZnO) (n = 12 replicates/treatment). Mushroom powders were included at 2 g/kg of feed achieving a β-glucan content of 200ppm. ZnO was included at 3100 mg/kg feed and halved to 1550 mg/kg after 21 days. Vitamin D content was enhanced in MPD2 using synthetic UVB exposure to obtain a vitamin D2 level of 100 µg/kg of feed. Faecal samples were collected on day 14 for microbial and nutrient digestibility analysis. There was no difference (p > 0.05) in ADG, G:F, faecal scores, microbial populations and CATTD of nutrients in pigs supplemented with MP or MPD2 compared with the control diet. The supplementation of MP and MPD2 caused a reduction (p < 0.05) in feed intake compared with the control and ZnO diet throughout the 35-day experimental period. ZnO supplementation increased ADG and ADFI (p < 0.05) during the first period (D0-21) compared with pigs offered MP and MPD2 . In conclusion, MP and MPD2 supplementation resulted in similar ADG, G:F, faecal scores compared with the control but were not comparable to ZnO, mainly due to a reduction in feed intake.
Keywords: Agaricus bisporus; pigs; post-weaning; vitamin D; zinc oxide; β-glucan.
© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.