Effects of Eucommia ulmoides leaf extracts on growth performance, antioxidant capacity and intestinal function in weaned piglets

This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietaryEucommia ulmoides leaf extracts (ELE) on growth performance, antioxidant capacity and intestinal function of weaned piglets. Two hundred crossbred (Duroc  × Landrace × Yorkshire) piglets with an average initial weight of 12.96 ± 0.28 kg were randomly allotted to five treatments: C0 (basal diet), C1 (basal diet + antibiotics) and basal diet supplemented with increasing levels of ELE (0.2, 0.3 or 0.4 g/kg of feed). The results showed that ELE or antibiotics supplementation remarkably decreased diarrhoea rate and 0.3 g/kg ELE increased average daily gain compared with C0 (p <  .05). 0.3 g/kg ELE increased alkaline phosphatase (AKP) levels and total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC) in serum and liver, as well as increased the content of serum albumin and total protein (TP) compared with the C0 (p <  .05). The lipase activity of duodenum content and trypsin activity of jejunum content were improved fed diets containing 0.3 g/kg ELE compared with C0 (p <  .05). The 0.3 g/kg ELE treatments have a higher villus height of the duodenum and jejunum compared with the C0 (p <  .05). These results suggested that ELE supplementation had beneficial effects on antioxidant and intestinal function in weaned piglets, which also could increase growth performance and decreased diarrhoea rate. Accordingly, ELE is a potential alternative to antibiotics.
Source: Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition - Category: Zoology Authors: Tags: SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE Source Type: research