Effects of Probiotics on Growth, Pork Quality and Serum Metabolites in Growing-finishing Pigs

A total of 72 growing-finishing pigs (56 days old) were used to investigate the effects of dietary probiotics on growing performance, pork quality and serum metabolites. Using single factorial experiment design, pigs were allotted to three groups (four pens/group and six pigs/pen). Diet treatments were a corn-soybean meal (control group) and a corn-soybean meal with 1% probiotics (probiotics group) or 80 mg · kg−1 colistin sulfate (antibiotics group). Pigs were slaughtered when pigs of the lightest averaged 90 kg (157 days of age). There was no difference (p>0.05) in average daily gain or feed/gain, and the average daily feed intake of the antibiotics group was higher than that of the probiotics and the control groups (p<0.05). Diet supplemented with probiotics reduced the drip loss and cooking loss of pork (p<0.05). Dietary supplementation with probiotics significantly decreased the content of triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein and urea nitrogen in serum (p<0.05), and increased the content of high-density lipoprotein in serum (p<0.05). These results suggested improving effects of dietary probiotics on pork quality and serum metabolism in growing-finishing pigs.