The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of a phytogenic compound for pigs in the growing and finishing phases as a possible substitute for ractopamine. A total of 140 pigs with an average initial weight of 48.8 kg ± 5.9 kg were used, distributed in a randomized block design, in a 3 × 2 factorial scheme (control diet (CONT), diet with inclusion of 2.5 kg per ton of a phytogenic compound (PC), and diet with 10 ppm of ractopamine (RAC), and two sexes: gilts and barrows), distributed in eight pens per treatment. The performance parameters were measured, and, at the end of the experimental period, the animals were slaughtered for carcass characteristics and pork quality analysis. The animals consuming RAC showed a better feed conversion, 4% improvement in relation to the group with the PC (p < 0.05). For daily weight gain, the animals supplemented with the PC showed 4.46% lower gain compared to RAC, and 3% greater gain compared to the CONT (p < 0.05). The animals that consumed the PC showed 5.6% lower shear force of the pork (p < 0.05) in relation to the CONT group and 29% lower in relation to the RAC group. The TBARS value presented a significant difference (p < 0.05), the CONTT group was 29% higher than the RAC, and the PC was 15.5% higher than the RAC. For chroma, the pork of the RAC group was 14% lower than the CONTT group and 10.3% less than the PC. There was no significant difference for the carcass parameters. It was concluded that the pigs in the ractopamine group presented the best performance; however, the phytogenic compound can be used against ractopamine’s restriction because it improves daily weight gain and promotes a softer and less pale meat when compared with ractopamine.
Keywords: performance; pork; swine.