Scientifically Speaking …


By Matthew Wedzerai


IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF WEANED PIGLETS WITH NEOTAME


In a recent study published in the journal Animal Feed Science and Technology, researchers found neotame, a sweetener, to improve the performance of weaned piglets.


Several factors such as diet change, separation from sows, mixing with strange pen mates and changing environmental conditions all lead to weaning stress. In most cases weaning stress results in low feed intake, diarrhoea, or poor growth performance. Palatability of diet is essential for enhancing appetite and stimulating feed intake. Since piglets prefer a sweet taste, adding sweeteners to the diet may be an effective means to improve palatability and increase the feed intake of weaned piglets. Previous studies show the preference of piglets for sucrose taste, however, high application of sucrose in diets can cause diarrhoea. The use of noncaloric sweeteners such as neotame may replace sucrose and curb this negative effect. Neotame is a non-nutritive artificial sweetener, which has a clear


sweet taste like sucrose but without a bitter or metallic taste. Studies show that the sweetness of neotame is approximately 7,000–13,000 times greater than sucrose and 30–60 times greater than aspartame. Studies on various species, such as mice, rats, dogs, rabbits and humans have shown that neotame is not carcinogenic, teratogenic or mutagenic and does not produce any reproductive or developmental toxicity (Aguilar et al., 2007). Owing to its clear taste and low relative


cost, researchers think neotame could be an ideal feed additive for weaned pigs.


The study In this study, researchers evaluated the effects of neotame on diet preference, performance, and haematological and biochemical parameters of weaned piglets. The effect of the sweetener on the modulation of microbiota is also presented, in a similar study. For the diet preference, the experimental period was 10 days; two diets were used containing either 0 mg /kg or 30 mg /kg neotame. For performance measurements, six diets were used containing either 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 mg /kg neotame. To evaluate the effect of neotame on haematological and biochemical parameters, three diets were used containing either 0, 50, or 500 mg /kg neotame.


Diet preference and performance When the appetite of pigs is suppressed due to diet, environment and social change at weaning, taste and diet palatability will play essential roles in determining the feed intake of weaned piglets. In the current study, the two-choice test proved effective at demonstrating a preference for and higher intake of the diet supplemented with neotame. Results indicated that the palatability was improved, and pigs had a preference for a diet supplemented with 30 mg/kg neotame over the one without neotame. The improvement in preference was attributed to the sucrose-like taste of neotame; previous studies show that piglets prefer the sucrose taste. In addition, compared to sucrose, neotame may be a better choice for weaned pigs due to its non-caloric nature since excessive calorie ingestion from sucrose solution may lead to reduced feed intake, and thus reduced weight gain of weaned piglets. In the present study, the diet supplemented with 30 mg/kg


neotame showed (Table 1) optimal results on growth performance parameters including feed intake, weight gain and FCR. Neotame has an intense taste and will limit the maximum tolerable doses by


Table 1: Effect of graded levels of neotame on the performance of weaned piglets Item 0


Phase I (d 1–22) Weight gain, g/d


Daily feed intake, g/d FCR


Phase II (d 23–35) Weight gain, g/d


Daily feed intake, g/d FCR


Entire experiment (d 1–35) Weight gain, g/d


Daily feed intake, g/d FCR


246 410 1.68


403 691 1.73


304 515 1.71


PAGE 22 MARCH/APRIL 2023 FEED COMPOUNDER 10


240 399 1.66


426 752 1.77


309 530 1.72


Dietary neotame level, mg/kg 20


30


269 440 1.63


417 783 1.88


324 567 1.75


256 409 1.60


467 767 1.64


335 544 1.62


40


241 393 1.63


423 727 1.72


308 517 1.68


50


217 366 1.69


367 627 1.72


273 463 1.70


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