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In finishing pigs’ diet, the use of analogues of natural hormones such as catecholamines, norepinephrine or adrenaline seeking muscle development is common. Ractopamine hydrochloride, a β-adrenergic agonist (β-AA), was widely used for that purpose with significant results. However, due to recent restrictions of this component, new strategies to enhance animal growth need to be found. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a potential growth promoter substitute, ferulic acid (FA) (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid), a phytochemical present in a wide range of natural sources, such as grains and cereals. For that purpose, four hundred and twenty pigs were used in this study, and 105 animals (with five replicate pens and 21 pigs per pen) were assigned to one of four treatments: basal diet (BD) without additives (C-); BD + 10 ppm ractopamine hydrochloride + 0.97% lysine (C+); BD + 25 ppm of FA (FA); and BD + 25 ppm of FA + 0.97% lysine (FA-Lys). Data of growth performance, carcass quality, histomorphometric characteristics, and histochemical characteristics of skeletal muscle of finishing pigs were collected.
As a result, dietary supplementation with FA or ractopamine increased both the average daily gain (14%) and loin muscle area (19%), while fat deposition decreased by 53%, in comparison with C-. The growth performance of pigs treated with FA was similar to those of ractopamine. The histochemical analysis showed that FA and C+ treatments induced a shift in muscle fiber types: from fast fibers to intermediate (alkaline ATPase) and from oxidative to glycolytic fibers. Muscle tissues from animals treated with FA or ractopamine had a lower cross-sectional area and a greater number of muscle fibers per area.
Findings regarding growth performance and carcass traits indicate that FA supplementation at 25 ppm without extra-lysine can replace the use of ractopamine as a growth promoter in finishing pigs.
Valenzuela-Grijalva N, Jiménez-Estrada I, Mariscal-Tovar S, López-García K, Pinelli-Saavedra A, Peña-Ramos EA, Muhlia-Almazán A, Zamorano-García L, Valenzuela-Melendres M, González-Ríos H. Effects of Ferulic Acid Supplementation on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits and Histochemical Characteristics of Muscle Fibers in Finishing Pigs. Animals. 2021;11(8): 2455. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082455
