Características ósseas, microbiológicas e intestinais de leitões alimentados com algas marinhas calcíticas

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate the bone, microbiological and intestinal characteristics of piglets in the nursery phase fed dietary supplementation of calcitic seaweed (CS) as an alternative calcium source (Ca2+). A total of 128 piglets, crossbred males of commercial lineage (Landrace x Large White, Agroceres♂ and DanBred♀), with initial average body weight of 5.50 (0.49) kg, was used in a complete randomized blocks design, with four treatments, repeated twice in four blocks, and four pigs per experimental unit. The treatments consisted of four experimental diets: diet formulated in Ca2+ requirement from limestone (L); diet formulated in Ca2+ requirement from equivalent proportions of L and CS (L + CS); diet formulated with a 30% reduction in Ca2+ requirement from CS (CS (-30%)) and diet formulated in Ca2+ requirement from CS (CS). The variables analyzed were: dry matter (DM), ash (ASH) and Ca2+ concentration (Ca2+) in the 3rd and 4th metatarsal bones and in the kidneys, heart and liver; fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), length (LEN), area (A), bone mineral composition (BMC), bone mineral density (BMD), Seedor index (SI) and bone resistance (BR) in the 3rd and 4th metatarsal bones; stomach pH and pH and bacterial population count in the jejunum, ileum, cecum and colon; morphometry in the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. There was influence (p < 0.05) of treatments in FW, DW, LEN, A, BMC, SI and BR of metatarsals. Animals supplemented with CS (-30%) presented lower averages bone parameters in relation to piglets that received L and CS, which impaired bone development. For organs, there was a higher concentration of Ca2+ in the liver of animals supplemented with CS and a higher percentage of DM in the liver of animals that received CS (-30%). Pigs that received diets with CS had a higher (p < 0.05) population of enterobacteria in the jejunum and lower (p < 0.05) mean pH of the cecum compared to pigs fed diets with L and CS (-30%). As a source of Ca2+, CS can be used as an alternative in the diet of piglets in the nursery phase, resembling limestone (conventional source of Ca2+) and does not cause harm to the parameters analyzed, since that the nutritional requirement of Ca2+ is met.