<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>A sixteen-week study was carried out in order to investigate the effects of different herbal-mix feed additives (Moringa, Basil and Neem) on serological parameters, tibia bone characteristics and gut morphology of growing pigs. Eighty-one Large White breed of pigs with a mean weight of 15.35 ± 1.07 were grouped on weight equalization basis into three treatments with 9 replicates per treatment and 3 pigs per replicate in a completely randomized design. Pigs on treatment 1 were fed a ration without integration of herbal-mix feed additives, those in treatments 2 and 3 were offered a diet that contained moringa-basil leaf meal and neem-basil leaf meal respectively. Blood samples were collected from the experimental pigs on the 12th week of the study for the determination of serum levels, while 1 pig from each replicate group whose weight was close to the mean replicate weight was chosen at the end of the study, fasted for 12 hours, sacrificed and the small intestine and left tibia bone were harvested and used for gut and bone morphology evaluation. These data generated from the study were subjected to a 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that herbal-mix feed additives influenced some of the serological parameters, i.e., globulin, glucose, total cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoproteins, and aspartate aminotransferase. These parameters decreased with integration of different herbal-mix in the pigs’ diets except high density lipoprotein that increased statistically. The tibia characteristics such as tibia breaking strength, medial thickness and lateral thickness were also positively impacted by the dietary inclusion of the herbal-mix. Likewise, the villus height of the jejunum was positively enhanced by dietary inclusion of the herbal-mix feed additives. This study concluded that herbal-mix feed additives can be utilized in pigs’ nutrition in enhancing some serological parameters, tibia bone and gut characteristics of growing pigs.</p>
</abstract>

A sixteen-week study was carried out in order to investigate the effects of different herbal-mix feed additives (Moringa, Basil and Neem) on serological parameters, tibia bone characteristics and gut morphology of growing pigs. Eighty-one Large White breed of pigs with a mean weight of 15.35 ± 1.07 were grouped on weight equalization basis into three treatments with 9 replicates per treatment and 3 pigs per replicate in a completely randomized design. Pigs on treatment 1 were fed a ration without integration of herbal-mix feed additives, those in treatments 2 and 3 were offered a diet that contained moringa-basil leaf meal and neem-basil leaf meal respectively. Blood samples were collected from the experimental pigs on the 12th week of the study for the determination of serum levels, while 1 pig from each replicate group whose weight was close to the mean replicate weight was chosen at the end of the study, fasted for 12 hours, sacrificed and the small intestine and left tibia bone were harvested and used for gut and bone morphology evaluation. These data generated from the study were subjected to a 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that herbal-mix feed additives influenced some of the serological parameters, i.e., globulin, glucose, total cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoproteins, and aspartate aminotransferase. These parameters decreased with integration of different herbal-mix in the pigs’ diets except high density lipoprotein that increased statistically. The tibia characteristics such as tibia breaking strength, medial thickness and lateral thickness were also positively impacted by the dietary inclusion of the herbal-mix. Likewise, the villus height of the jejunum was positively enhanced by dietary inclusion of the herbal-mix feed additives. This study concluded that herbal-mix feed additives can be utilized in pigs’ nutrition in enhancing some serological parameters, tibia bone and gut characteristics of growing pigs.

Influence of Different Herbal-Mix Feed Additives on Serological Parameters, Tibia Bone Characteristics and Gut Morphology of Growing Pigs

Department of Animal Production and Health

Folia Veterinaria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

A sixteen-week study was carried out in order to investigate the effects of different herbal-mix feed additives (Moringa, Basil and Neem) on serological...

Influence of Different Herbal-Mix Feed Additives on Serological Parameters, Tibia Bone Characteristics and Gut Morphology of Growing Pigs

Published Online: Apr 06, 2021

Page range: 9 - 18

Received: Sep 22, 2020

Accepted: Dec 13, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2021-0002

Keywords
blood indices, feed additives, growing pigs, small intestine

© 2021 C. P. Njoku et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Influence of Different Herbal-Mix Feed Additives on Serological Parameters, Tibia Bone Characteristics and Gut Morphology of Growing Pigs

Published Online: Apr 06, 2021

Page range: 9 - 18

Received: Sep 22, 2020

Accepted: Dec 13, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2021-0002

Keywordsblood indices, feed additives, growing pigs, small intestine

© 2021 C. P. Njoku et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
blood indices, feed additives, growing pigs, small intestine