Effects of compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine on growth performance,meat quality,immunity,and antioxidant capacity in finishing pigs

CAO Ri-liang; BAI Hai; HU Guang-ying

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2024.24.005

Abstract：The experiment aimed to investigate the effects of compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine on the growth performance,meat quality,antioxidant capacity,and immunity of finishing pigs.Forty-eight'Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire'finishing pigs with an initial body weight of about 30 kg were selected and randomly divided into two groups,each with three replicates,and each replicate consisted of eight finishing pigs.The control group was fed a basic diet,while the compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine group was supplemented with 0.5％compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine in the basic diet.The preliminary period was seven days,and the formal experimental period was 120 days.The results showed that compared with the control group,the average daily weight gain of finishing pigs in the compound traditional Chinese medicine group was extremely increased(P＜0.01),while the feed conversion ratio was extremely decreased(P＜0.01).The carcass weight,carcass length,meat color,marbling,and redness value in the compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine group were significantly higher than those in the control group(P＜0.05),and shear force was significantly lower than that in the control group(P＜0.05).The concentrations of cytidine nucleotides and adenosine nucleotides in the longissimus dorsi muscle in the compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine group were significantly higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).The concentrations of interleukin-2(IL-2),complement C3,and immunoglobulin A(IgA)in the compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine group were significantly increased compared to the control group(P＜0.05).The activities of glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)and superoxide dismutase(SOD)in the compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine group were significantly enhanced compared to the control group(P＜0.05),and the content of malondialdehyde(MDA)was significantly reduced(P＜0.05).The study indicates that the addition of compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine to the diet can improve the growth performance,enhance the meat quality,and increase the immunity and antioxidant capacity of finishing pigs.