Intestinal conditioner pronutrients are active molecules of botanical origin that improve the integrity of the intestinal mucosa, increasing the renewal rate of enterocytes and improving the tight junctions between them. Pronutrients optimize the physiological state of the gut mucosa, improving the feed digestion and nutrient absorption, which has a positive impact on feed utilization and on the animal´s growth.

Objective

To assess the effect of intestinal conditioner pronutrients, compared to ractopamine, during pigs fattening.

Material and methods

The trial was conducted by Biovet S.A. in Peru (2021), in collaboration with the Catholic University of Santa Maria. 42 pigs of about 4 months old, were used. The pigs started the trial with an average weight of 48.19 kg, and they were divided into the following experimental groups:

• Control group: standard basal diet without growth promoter additives.
• Ractopamine group: standard basal diet + ractopamine at 0.5 kg/t, continuously during the month prior to slaughter.
• Pronutrient group: standard basal diet + intestinal conditioner pronutrients at dose of 0.5 kg/t, continuously during the month prior to slaughter.

Results

The group supplemented with intestinal conditioner pronutrients, was the one that obtained the highest final weight, 72.5 kg, with a difference of more than 2 kg per animal, compared to the control group and the group supplemented with ractopamine.

The average daily gain was also better in the pronutrient group, with a difference of 12.4% and 6.8%, compared to the control group and the group supplemented with ractopamine.

The average feed conversion rate during the trial was 2.86 in the control group, 2.73 in the ractopamine group and 2.60 in the pronutrient group, which means a reduction, thanks to the use of pronutrients, of 9% compared to the control and 4.8% compared to ractopamine.

At the same time, the diarrheas scores were assessed. Overall, pigs showed no obvious diarrhea. However, on average, the diarrhea score was better in the group with pronutrient intestinal conditioners.

Finally, the thickness of the dorsal fat was evaluated, with significant differences observed between the control group and the groups supplemented with ractopamine and pronutrients, with a difference of 17%. No significant differences were observed between the ractopamine group and the pronutrient group.

Economic study

An economic study was carried out with the obtained results.

The group with intestinal conditioner pronutrients was the one that obtained a greater economic profitability with an improvement of 9.58% compared to the control group and 10.53% with respect to the group with ractopamine.

Conclusion

The use of intestinal conditioner pronutrients, has a marked positive effect on intestinal health, which is reflected in a higher final weight (+2 kg/animal), a lower feed conversion rate (improvement of 4.8%) and increased prevention of diarrhea, with a reduction of up to 11.4% when compared to ractopamine.

The economic study reveals that pronutrients allow to obtain a greater economic return, compared to the control group and the group with ractopamine. Considering the results obtained, a farm that replaced ractopamine with pronutrients would produce 2.1 tons more of meat per 1,000 animals and save 3.2 tons of feed in the last 28 days of fattening.

The intestinal conditioner pronutrients are marketed under the name of Alquernat Nebsui  from  Biovet S.A.