ABSTRACT We evaluated the effects of Quillaja saponin (400 mg/kg) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal gas emissions, and meat quality in pigs when used as a supplement in a finishing pig diet. In total, 80 finishing pigs [(Yorkshire × Landrace) × Duroc] with an average initial body weight of 61.53 ± 4.41 kg were used in a 61-day study. Pigs were allotted to one of two treatments according to initial body weight with 10 replicate pens per treatment and four pigs (two barrows and two gilts) per pen. The dietary treatments consisted of (1) a basal diet (CON), or (2) a CON + 400 mg/kg Quillaja saponin (QS) diet. The growth performance and nutrient digestibility were not affected by supplementing the diet with QS. The ammonia emissions were decreased by Quillaja saponin supplementation (P < 0.05). Pigs consuming the QS diet had a higher meat water-holding capacity (WHC) (P < 0.05) and a lower meat drip loss on day 7 (P < 0.05) compared to pigs consuming the CON diet. Our results indicate that a diet supplemented with 400 mg/kg Quillaja saponin can improve the meat WHC and drip loss, and reduced fecal ammonia emission.

中文翻译：

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日粮添加皂树皂苷对育肥猪生长性能、养分消化率、粪便气体排放和肉质的影响

摘要 我们评估了 Quillaja 皂苷 (400 mg/kg) 用作育肥猪日粮中的补充剂时对猪的生长性能、养分消化率、粪便气体排放和肉质的影响。在为期 61 天的研究中，总共使用了 80 头平均初始体重为 61.53 ± 4.41 kg 的育肥猪 [(Yorkshire × Landrace) × Duroc]。根据初始体重将猪分配到两个处理之一，每个处理 10 个重复围栏，每个围栏 4 头猪（两头公猪和两头小母猪）。饮食处理包括 (1) 基础饮食 (CON)，或 (2) CON + 400 mg/kg 皂甙 (QS) 饮食。在日粮中添加 QS 不会影响生长性能和养分消化率。补充 Quillaja 皂苷可降低氨排放（P < 0.05）。与食用 CON 日粮的猪相比，食用 QS 日粮的猪具有更高的肉类持水能力 (WHC) (P < 0.05) 和更低的肉滴损失 (P < 0.05)。我们的结果表明，添加 400 mg/kg 皂角树皂苷的饮食可以改善肉 WHC 和滴水损失，并减少粪便氨排放。