Effects of fermented wheat bran on growth performance, diarrhoea incidence, antioxidant capacity and faecal microbiota in weaned piglets

SThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of fermented wheat bran (FWB) on growth performance, diarrhoea incidence, plasma antioxidant capacity and faecal microbiota of weaned piglets. A total of 120 weaned piglets were randomly divided into 4 groups with 6 replicates per group and 5 piglets per replicate. The control group (CT) was fed a basal diet, and the treated groups (T1, T2, and T3) were fed the diets equivalent to 1%, 3% and 5% main feed stuffs by FWB, respectively. Blood was collected and plasma was separated on days 14 and 42, and faeces were collected on day 42. The results showed that compared with the CT group, 3% FWB group increased average daily feed intake and average daily gain of weaning piglets from day 14 to 28, and had a trend of increasing body weight, and 5% FWB group decreased the incidence of diarrhoea. In addition, plasma catalase activity of weaned piglets at day 14 was increased in the 3% FWB group with a significant quadratic effect and the plasma insulin-like growth factor-1 level in 3% and 5% FWB groups tended to be increased with a significant linear increase compared to the CT group. Moreover, the relative abundance of Mitsuokella and Syntrophococcus in the 3% FWB group was increased. In conclusion, the supplementation of FWB showed beneficial effects on growth performance and faecal consistency of weaned piglets which might be contributed to the improved plasma antioxidant capacity and modulation of the gut microbial composition.