Effect of supplemental feeding of plum juice concentrateon fecal microbial shedding in growing-finishing Yorkshirepigs

Yorkshire pigs(n = 32) were used to determinethe effect of supplementing grower-finisher diets with plum juiceconcentrate (PJC) on microbial shedding in pig feces. Pigs were sortedby weight and sex (n = 16 barrows,n = 16 gilts) and assigned to penswith 2 pigs per pen. Pens were randomly allotted to 1 of the 4 diets:0 (control), 0.5, 1.0, or 3.0% PJC. Fecal samples were collected fromone pig per pen on d 0, 1, 7, 14, 28, and 56 and the last day on feed(group 1 = d 84; group2 = d 98). The ham of each pig wasswabbed at slaughter. Fecal and ham swab samples were plated andenumerated for anaerobic and aerobic bacteria, Salmonella spp., andEscherichia coli. On d 28, the diet supplemented with 1.0% PJC reduced(P < 0.05) anaerobic countcompared with the 0.5% PJC diet. Supplementing 1.0% PJC in the dietdecreased (P < 0.05) anaerobiccount when comparing d 0 to the last day on feed. There was aquadratic trend between aerobic counts and days on feed, with thelowest (P < 0.05) count on d14. Aerobic count was lower(P < 0.05) on the last day offeeding than on d 0. Salmonella spp. were not present in any samplethroughout the experiment. In conclusion, supplementing PJC up to 3.0%had little effect on fecal microbial shedding in thisstudy.