Influence of Bamboo Vinegar Powder Supplementation on Growth Performance, Apparent Digestibility and Expression of Growth-related Genes in Finishing Pigs

The study was conducted with the objective to evaluate the effect of bamboo vinegar powder (BV) on growth performance and expression of growth-related genes in finishing pigs. Ninety pigs (140-d-old, 80.88 +/- 0.82 kg) were randomly allocated to five groups and were fed on a basal diet alone (CON; served as a control), or supplemented with either antibiotics (AB) or BV at 0.5 (BV-0.5), 1.0 (BV-1.0) and 1.5 (BV-1.5) per cent levels. Relative growth parameters and nutrient apparent digestibility were measured. Expression of IGF-1, GHR, and LEP in muscle, liver, and adipose tissues were quantified by RT-q PCR. Addition of 1.0% BV significantly (P<0.05) increased ADG and reduced FCR of finishing pigs than CON. Additionally, the CP digestibility in BV-1.0 and BV-0.5 notably improved (P<0.05) than those in other groups. The pigs showed significantly (P<0.05) elevated levels of IGF-1 and GHR mRNA expression in liver in BV-1.0 and BV-1.5 than that in other groups. The IGF-1 also showed significant higher (P <0.05) expression in adipose tissues in BV-1.0 and BV-1.5 when compared to other groups. The expression of LEP increased significantly (P<0.05) in muscle and liver tissues in BV-1.0 than that in other groups. Overall, it is concluded that BV can be supplemented at 1.0% level to promote growth and development in finishing pigs.