Adult Ossabaw Pigs Prefer Fermented Sorghum Tea over Isocaloric Sweetened Water

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Fermented sorghum tea has previously been proposed to improve satiety and health. A pig model for adult weight management and fermented sorghum tea will be used for future studies; however, the literature has indicated that pigs may reject sour or bitter flavors. Previous literature studies focused on piglets and lactating sows fed ad libitum, whereas our model is focused on male and female adult pigs with restricted calorie intake. Therefore, the objective of the current work was to determine the appetitive response to fermented sorghum tea using a novel, three-way preference maze. For this study, limit-fed adult pigs not only have high affinity for fermented sorghum tea, but they also prefer the tea over the equally sweetened control solution. This is the first preference research in many years where adult pigs do not reject sour or bitter flavors if they are formulated in fermented tea. Our novel preference maze is now commercially available; therefore, our preference test methods can be replicated across laboratories, thus impacting the scientific community that uses pigs in research. Furthermore, future work using the adult pig as a model for understanding the health benefits of fermented sorghum tea will not be impeded by the avoidance behaviors of adult pigs. ABSTRACT: Ossabaw pigs (n = 11; 5—gilts, 6—barrows; age 15.6 ± 0.62 SD months) were exposed to a three-choice preference maze to evaluate preference for fermented sorghum teas (FSTs). After conditioning, pigs were exposed, in four sessions, to choices of white FST, sumac FST, and roasted sumac-FST. Then, pigs were exposed, in three sessions, to choices of deionized H(2)O (−control; avoidance), isocaloric control (+control; deionized H(2)O and sucrose), and blended FST (3Tea) (equal portions: white, sumac, and roasted sumac). When tea type was evaluated, no clear preference behaviors for tea type were observed (p > 0.10). When the 3Tea and controls were evaluated, pigs consumed minimal control (p < 0.01;18.0 ± 2.21% SEM), and they consumed great but similar volumes of +control and 3Tea (96.6 and 99.0 ± 2.21% SEM, respectively). Likewise, head-in-bowl duration was the least for −control, but 3Tea was the greatest (p < 0.01; 5.6 and 31.9 ± 1.87% SEM, respectively). Head-in-bowl duration for +control was less than 3Tea (p < 0.01; 27.6 vs. 31.9 ± 1.87% SEM). Exploration duration was the greatest in the area with the −control (p < 0.01; 7.1 ± 1.45% SEM), but 3Tea and +control exploration were not different from each other (1.4 and 3.0 ± 1.45% SEM, respectively). Regardless of tea type, adult pigs show preference for FST, even over +control. Adult pigs likely prefer the complexity of flavors, rather than the sweetness alone.