Effect of Dietary Grape Pomace Fermented by Saccharomyces boulardii on the Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility and Meat Quality in Finishing Pigs

Fifty six [(Duroc x Yorkshire) x Landrace] pigs with an average initial BW of 19.3 +/- 0.17 kg were used in this 15 weeks growth experiment to investigate the effects of grape pomace fermented by Saccharomyces boulardii on pig growth performance, nutrient digestibility and quality attributes of pork. Pigs were allotted to 2 dietary treatments (7 replications) based on their initial BW using a randomized complete block design. The experimental treatments were: Control (CON; basal diet), FGPP (CON+30 g kg(-1) Fermented Grape Pomace Product). Dietary FGPP improved (p<0.05) Average Daily Gain (ADG), Coefficient Apparent Total Tract Digestibility (CATTD) of Dry Matter (DM) and Nitrogen (N) during 35-70 days of the experiment. Similarly, significant (p<0.05) improvement was observed on N digestibility when FGPP was supplemented in the finisher phase (day 71-105). Dietary FGPP supplementation increased (p<0.05) the marbling score, the redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) values as well as the anti-oxidative ability (lower TBARS) compared with CON group. The inclusion of FGPP led to a lower palmitic acid (C:16:0), stearic acid (C:18:0) and arachidic acid (C:20:0) and SFA levels (p<0.05) in subcutaneous fat than those in CON group. An increased (p<0.05) linoleic acid (C18:2n6), total PUFA and PUFA/SFA ratio were observed in the FGPP group compared with the CON group. Dietary FGPP supplementation decreased the arachidic acid (C:20:0) level in Longissimus Muscle (LM) compared with CON group. In conclusion, dietary inclusion of FGPP at the level of 30 g kg(-1) improved the growth performance, nutrients digestibility and altered the fatty acid pattern in the subcutaneous fat as well as sonic attributes of pork meat.