In this study 300 weaned pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc, 23±3 d of age, 5.56± 1.21 kg initial body weight) were used to study the effect of fungal (Aspergillus oryzae, FSP-A) and fungal + bacteria (Aspergillus oryzae + Bacillus subtilis, FSP-B) fermented soya proteins on their blood hematology, enzymes and immune cell populations. Pigs were allotted to 5 treatments, each comprising of 4 pens with 15 pigs. Basal diets consisted of 15% soyabean meal (Control diet) while for treatment diets SBM was replaced with 3 and 6% of each FSP-A and FSP-B, respectively. The experimental diets were fed from 0 to 14 day after weaning and then a common commercial diet was fed from 15 to 35 day. Blood was collected on 14 and 35 day of experiment and analyzed for hematology, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and immune cell populations. At d 14, lower RBC count, Hb and HCT values and higher AST values were noted in pigs fed FSP-A diets when compared with Control and FSP-B fed pigs.Also at d 14 pigs fed 6% FSP-A had lower NE (P<0.05) when compared with those fed 6% FSP-B. The level of FSP influenced the RDW on d 14 and MCHC, MO and MPV on d 35. In addition on d 35, pigs fed 3% FSP-A had lesser NE than those fed 6% FSP -A and Control diet, while pigs fed 6% FSP-B had the highest number of MO compared to other treatments. But there were no differences in the plasma AST and ALT values on d 35. Thus it may be concluded that the FSP either by fungal or fungal + bacterial sources had an influence on the blood hematological status and the populations of immune cells.

A total of 240 weaned pigs (Landrace ×Yorkshire × Duroc, 22±3 d of age, 5.16±0.90 kg initial body weight) were used to study the effect of feeding level of microbial fermented soya protein on their blood hematology, enzymes and immune cell populations. The microbial (Aspergillus oryzae + Bacillus subtilis) fermented soya protein (FSP) was used. Pigs were allotted to four dietary treatments, each comprising of 4 pens with 15 pigs. Basal diets consisted of 15% soya bean meal (Control diet); while for treatment diets SBM was replaced with 3, 6 and 9% FSP. The experimental diets were fed from 0 to 14 day after weaning and then a common commercial diet was fed from 15 to 35 day. Blood was collected on 14 and 35 day of experiment and analyzed for hematology, plasma aspartate transaminase (AST), plasma alanine transaminase (ALT) and immune cell populations. Increasing the level of FSP in the diet of pigs linearly decreased distribution of red blood cells (P<0.01), MPV (P<0.05), MO (P<0.05), EO (P<0.05) and BA (P<0.05) on d 14. Linear and quadratic decrease in the RBC (P<0.05), Hb (P<0.05), HCT (P<0.01), PLT (P<0.001) and EO (P<0.05) and linear increase in the MCHC (P<0.001), MPV (P<0.05), WBC (P<0.05) and NE (P<0.05) on d 35 was noted. Pigs fed with 6% FSP had lower (P<0.05) levels of AST and ALT on d 14, while the levels of ALT and AST on d 35 did not differ among the dietary treatments. Thus the results suggest that microbial fermented soya protein affected the hematological indices, immune cell populations and plasma enzymes in weaned pigs.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of wood vinegar (WV) on the fecal microbes and gas emission in weaned pigs. In Exp. 1, 224 weaned piglets (L×Y×D, 21 d-old, initial BW 6.02 ± 0.52 kg) were assigned to four treatments of different WV levels in randomized completely block design with four replicates (14 piglets/pen) for 28 days, including phases I (0-2 wk) and phase II (3-4 wk). The dietary treatments were 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% of WV added to a corn-soybean meal basal diet. The concentration of ammonia measured at 0 h and 24 h in feces did not differ among dietary treatments (p>0.05), but it was linearly decreased (p<0.05) in 0.2% and 0.3% addition level measured at 48 h and 72 h. The concentration of hydrogen sulfide had no significant change (p>0.05) within treatments measured at different time. The fecal total bacteria (TBC), Lactobacilli(LAB) and E. coli were measured on 14 d and 28 d. TBC were higher (p>0.05) in WV added treatments than the control. Similar results were obtained for LAB. But E. coli populations were decreased (p<0.05) in treatments added WV compared to control measured on 14 d and 35 d. In Exp. 2, 288 weaned piglets (L×Y×D, 21 d-old, initial BW 6.62 ± 0.31 kg) were assigned to four treatments in a randomized completely block design with four replicates (18 piglets/pen) for 28 days. The dietary treatments were basal diet (negative control, NC), 0.2% organic acid (positive control, PC), 0.2% antibiotic (AT) and 0.2% WV added to a corn-soybean meal basal diet. The fecal total bacteria (TBC), Lactobacilli(LAB) and E. coli were measured on 14 d and 28 d. TBC, LAB and E. coli showed lower counts in pigs fed AT diets than others. In conclusion, these results indicated that wood vinegar could reduce the NH3 concentration of feces and inhibited the growth of harmful bacteria.

This study was designed to investigate the effects of multi-enzyme on diarrhea and immune responses of weaned pigs. A total 36 weaned pigs (5.92 ± 0.48 kg BW; 28 d old) were randomly allotted to 2 dietary treatments (3 pigs/pen, 6 replicates/ treatment) in a randomized complete block design. The dietary treatments were a typical diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) and CON with 0.1% multienzyme (Multi; mixture of β-mannanase, xylanase, α-amylase, protease, β-glucanase, and pectinase). Pigs were fed their respective diets for 6 wk. Frequency of diarrhea, levels of packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cells (WBC), immunoglobulins, cortisol, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor- β (TGF-β), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured. Multi group tended to decrease (p<0.1) diarrhea frequency than CON group during 2 wk after weaning. Lower values of PCV on d 3 (p<0.05) and d 7 (p<0.1) were found in Multi group compared with CON group. There were no significant differences on WBC number and immunoglobulin (Ig) M and A between Multi and CON groups. However, Multi group tended to increase (p<0.1) Ig G on d 7 than CON group. Moreover, Multi group showed modulated immune responses, indicated by decreased levels of cortisol (p<0.05) on d 7 and 14, TNF-α on d 3 (p<0.05) and d 7 (p<0.10), TGF- β on d 2 (p<0.05) and d 7 (p<0.10), and CRP (p<0.10) on d 3 and 7 after weaning compared with CON group. Consequently, inclusion of multi-enzyme in diets for weaned pigs improved gut health and modulated immune responses of weaned pigs.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of multi-enzyme on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and nutrient digestibility of weaned pigs. A total 36 weaned pigs (5.92 ± 0.48 kg BW; 28 d old) were randomly allotted to 2 dietary treatments (3 pigs/pen, 6 replicates/treatment) in a randomized complete block design. The dietary treatments were a typical diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) and CON with 0.1% multi-enzyme (Multi; mixture of β- mannanase, xylanase, α-amylase, protease, β-glucanase, and pectinase). Pigs were fed their respective diets for 6 wk. Measurements were growth performance, morphology of ileum, apparent ileal digestibility and apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and energy of weaned pigs. There were no significant differences on growth performance during overall experimental period. No differences were found for the morphology of ileum and nutrient digestibility between CON and Multi groups. Therefore, the results in the current study indicated that multi-enzyme supplementation in diets had no effects on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and nutrient digestibility of weaned pigs.