Effects of short-term feeding with high fiber diets on growth, utilization of dietary fiber, and microbiota in pigs

Guang Pu; Liming Hou; Taoran Du; Binbin Wang; Hang Liu; Kaijun Li; Peipei Niu; Wuduo Zhou; Ruihua Huang; Pinghua Li

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.963917

Effects of short-term feeding with high fiber diets on growth, utilization of dietary fiber, and microbiota in pigs

Front Microbiol. 2022 Jul 27:13:963917. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.963917. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Guang Pu^{1

2}, Liming Hou^{1

2}, Taoran Du^{1

2}, Binbin Wang^{1

2}, Hang Liu^{1

2}, Kaijun Li^{1

2}, Peipei Niu², Wuduo Zhou^{1

3}, Ruihua Huang^{1

3}, Pinghua Li^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Pig Genetic Resources Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Swine Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
² Laboratory of Intestinal Microbiology, Huaian Academy, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
³ Industrial Technology System Integration Innovation Center of Jiangsu Modern Agriculture (PIG), Nanjing, China.

Abstract

Finishing pigs can adapt to high-fiber diet smoothly according to the production performance and their intestinal microbiota through a 28-day trial or longer. However, it is unclear, at which stage during the experimental period, the adaptation occurred. Here we studied the dosage effects of dietary fiber (Total dietary fiber (TDF) from 16.70 to 24.11%) on growth performance, fiber digestibility, fecal microbiota, and microbial fermentation of finishing pigs during a 14-day feeding period. The results showed that the average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed/gain (F/G) of pigs were not affected as the dietary fiber increased. Apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of cellulose, hemicellulose, insoluble dietary fiber (IDF), soluble dietary fiber (SDF), and TDF of pigs remained unchanged when TDF was between 16.70 and 17.75%, while strikingly decreased when TDF increased from 17.75 to 24.11%. It is worth noting that increasing fiber intake seemed to favor hemicellulose digestion. In addition, the increase in fiber intake increased fecal microbial diversity, especially improved the proportion of the members of the family Prevotellaceae, Ruminococcaceae, and Lachnospiraceae, and decreased the abundance of the genus Streptococcus. Moreover, the increase in fiber intake promoted the digestion of fiber, production of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and enhanced microbial pyruvate metabolism and butanoate metabolism. In conclusion, short-term high fiber feeding has no adverse effects on the growth performance of finishing pigs. ATTD of dietary fiber of finishing pigs was maintained when TDF was at 17.75%. And short-term high fiber feeding improved microbial diversity and fiber degradation functions of finishing pigs.

Keywords: fiber intake; fiber-degrading microbiota; growth performance; pigs; short-term feeding.