Effects of Artemisia argyi Powder on Growth Performance,Nutrient Apparent Digestibility,Antioxidant Function and Fecal Microbial Population in Fattening Pigs
KU Chaofeng
WANG Xianwei
LÜ Lingyan
ZHANG Jiaqing
LIU Yang
SONG Weiyi
ZHANG Junxia
Abstract：To investigate the effects of Artemisia argyi powder on production performance,nutrient apparent digestibility,antioxidant function and the number of fecal microorganisms of fattening pigs,48"Changbai×Dabai"binary fattening pigs with body weight of 50.0 kg were randomly divided into 4 groups:the control group was fed with basal diet only;the experimental groups were added with 2%,4%and 6%Artemisia argyi powder,which were recorded as AAP-1 group,AAP-2 group and AAP-3 group,respectively.The feeding experiment was conducted from May to July 2024,and the indexes were measured after the end.The results showed that in terms of groduction performance,the final weight of the AAP-2 group and the average daily gain of the three experimental groups were significantly improved.The final weight and average daily gain of the AAP-2 group were 10.26%and 19.10%higher than those of the control group,respectively.At the same time,the feed-weight ratio of the AAP-2 group and the diarrhea rate of the three experimental groups were significantly lower than those in the control group,with feed-weight ratio and diarrhea rate of the AAP-2 group decreased by 12.03%and 23.83%,respectively.In terms of nutrient apparent digestibility,compared with the control group,the apparent digestibility of calcium,crude protein and crude fat in the three experimental groups was significantly increased.Among them,the AAP-2 group showed the greatest improvement,with the digestibility of calcium,crude protein,and crude fat increased by 16.82%,10.14%,and 13.48%,respectively,compared to the control group.In terms of antioxidant function,the activities of catalase,glutathione peroxidase,superoxide dismutase,and total antioxidant capacity in the AAP-2 group were 36.77%,21.13%,20.36%,44.80%higher than those in the control group,respectively.The content of malondialdehyde decreased by 25.70%compared with the control group.In terms of the number of fecal microorganisms,the number of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in the AAP-2 group increased by 19.61%and 11.85%,respectively,compared with the control group,while the number of Escherichia coli and Salmonella decreased by 11.18%and 22.09%,respectively.In summary,the addition of 4%Artemisia argyi powder can improve production performance,increase nutrient apparent digestibility,enhance antioxidant function,and increase the number of beneficial bacteriaand reduce the number of harmful bacteria in feces of fattening pigs.
Keywords：Fattening pigArtemisia argyi powderGrowth performanceNutrient apparent digestibilityAntioxidant functionFecal microorganisms
Publication Date：2025-09-15
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：8( 141-148 )