Effects of a dietary supplement of DHA-rich marine algae on Italian Heavy pig production parameters

To evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with a marine algae product (MA) containing a high level ofdocosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on heavy pig production performances (including meat and subcutaneous fat quality), a trial wasconducted on sixty LandraceLarge White barrows with a starting average body weight (BW) of 118kg. Pigs were allocated tofour experimental groups: a control group (A) fed a maize/soybean diet and three treatment groups in which MAwas added at2.5gkg1 over the last 8weeks prior to slaughtering (group B) or at 5 and 2.5gkg1 over the last 4weeks prior to slaughtering(groups C and D, respectively). Vitamin E was added at 12.5mg kg1 in the diets for groups B and D and at 25mg kg1 in thediet of group C. The four diets were formulated so as to supply the same amount of nutrients, with exception of vitamin E. Pigswere fed at a rate of 9% of their metabolic BW (BW0.75) up to a maximum of 2.9kg of dry matter per pig per day. Pigs wereslaughtered at about 160kg BW. The dietary treatment did not affect either the growth or slaughtering parameters of pigs. Nosignificant differences were observed with respect to pH values, meat colour, loin composition and the iodine number ofsubcutaneous fat. Pigs on MA diets showed a significant ( P b0.01) improvement in DHA levels both in loin and insubcutaneous fat. No significant differences in relative fatty acid composition were observed between pigs receiving the MAsupplement at the lower level (2.5gkg1) over an 8-week period (group B) and pigs receiving the higher MA supplement(5.0gkg1) over a 4-week period prior to slaughter (group C).D 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.[...]