December 24, 2007

Netherlands researches effect of yeast and MOS in pigs

The Animal Sciences Group from Wageningen University in Netherlands experimented on the effects of yeast culture (XPCLS) and yeast culture XPCLS plus mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) in pig diets.

The effects on performance, gut integrity, and immune function in weanling pigs were measured. Additionally, researchers wanted to determine whether these dietary supplements could replace antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP) in pig diets.

A total of 480 weanling pigs (27-day old and 7.8 +-  0.1 kg) were assigned to one of four experimental treatments: diets without AGP and without yeast culture (control diet); diets with AGP but no yeast culture; diets without AGP but with 0.125 percent yeast culture; diets without AGP but with 0.125 percent yeast culture + 0.2 percent MOS.

From day 1 to 35 post-weaning, average daily gain tended to be lower and feed conversion ratio was lower in piglets that were fed the control diet compared to piglets that were fed the other diets. Average daily feed intake was not affected by dietary treatment. Performance was similar in piglets that were fed diets supplemented with AGP, yeast culture, and yeast culture + MOS.

The results from this study suggest that yeast culture could be an alternative to AGP in diets for weanling pigs. The addition of MOS to diets containing yeast culture would not improve performance and immunity of weanling pigs above that of yeast culture alone.

Researchers from Netherlands said that additional study and insight into the mode of action is needed.