Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (2): 953-968.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.02.043

• Research Notes • Previous Articles    

Effects of Enzymatic Corn Gluten Meal on Growth Performance and Intestinal Microorganisms of Weaned Piglets

BAI Guosong(), TENG Chunran, WANG Junhong, ZHONG Ruqing, MA Teng*(), CHEN Liang, ZHANG Hongfu   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
  • Received:2024-03-03 Online:2025-02-23 Published:2025-02-26
  • Contact: MA Teng E-mail:bgsyx2@163.com;mateng@caas.cn

Abstract:

The study aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of enzymatic corn gluten meal (MCGM) on the growth performance, intestinal barrier, digestive enzyme activities, and intestinal microbial composition of weaned piglets. A total of 240 healthy weaned piglets (21 days-age, Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) with an average body weight of 5.71 ± 0.79 kg were selected. Based on the principle of body weight, the piglets were randomly assigned to five experimental groups: 5% conventional corn gluten meal (CGM) group, 5% fish meal (FM) group, and 5%, 10%, and 15% enzymatic corn gluten meal groups (MCGM1, MCGM2, and MCGM3), respectively. The feeding trial lasted for 14 days. The results showed that: 1) The feed-to-gain ratio (F/G) of weaned piglets in the MCGM1 and FM groups were significantly lower than that in the CGM, MCGM2 and MCGM3 groups (P<0.05). The fecal score in the MCGM2 group was significantly higher than that in the other experimental groups (P<0.05). 2) Compared to the CGM, MCGM2 and MCGM3 groups, the activities of trypsin and chymotrypsin in the duodenum and jejunum of the MCGM1 and FM groups were significantly increased (P<0.05). 3) The villus-to-crypt ratio in the duodenum of the MCGM1 and MCGM3 groups were significantly higher than that in the CGM and FM groups (P<0.05). Additionally, compared to the MCGM2 and MCGM3 groups, the mRNA expression levels of intestinal barrier genes (Occludin and ZO-1) in the MCGM1 group were significantly elevated (P<0.05). 4) The characteristic bacteria in the ileum of piglets in the MCGM1 group were f__Peptostreptococcaceae, o__Peptostreptococcales-Tissierellales, and g__Terrisporobacter, and in the cecum were o__Veillonellales-Selenomonadales; the characteristic bacteria in the ileum of piglets in the FM group were g__Lactobacillus and g__Prevotella. In conclusion, the addition of 5% MCGM can significantly enhance the digestive enzyme activities in the duodenum and jejunum of weaned piglets, strengthen the intestinal barrier function, and thereby improve growth performance.

Key words: enzymatic corn gluten meal, weaned piglets, growth performance, intestinal health

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