Influence of Sugar Beet Pulp Supplementation on Pigs’ Health and Production Quality

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Fibre inclusion in animals’ diets can improve digestive health and protect the animal against diarrhoea. However, studies have shown that fibrous feedstuffs can have a variable effect on pig growth, health and production quality. Sugar beet pulp (SBP) is a cheap fibrous material which contains more lysine than wheat grain and has a similar gross energy and crude protein content compared to corn grains. Nevertheless, the effect of fibre supplementation in the diet, especially using SBP, on pork quality has not been widely reported. This study evaluated the effect of an SBP-supplemented diet (3%) on Large White/Norwegian Landrace piglets’ growth performance, health parameters (blood characteristics and faeces microbial profile), carcass and meat quality. The tested diet reduced the average daily gain but improved the carcass quality. It also affected most of the blood parameters, the microbial profiles in pig faeces and the fatty acid and volatile compound profiles of pork meat. Higher drip loss, protein content and redness, along with a lower cooking loss, intramuscular fat content and lightness, were observed in the meat from pigs fed with SBP. Most of the sensory properties, as well as the overall acceptability, were more highly rated for this meat. The SBP-supplemented diet could be beneficial for the improvement of pigs’ gut health and pork quality. However, further studies are needed to indicate which compounds of the SBP dietary fiber are responsible for these desirable changes. ABSTRACT: Fibrous feedstuffs can have a variable effect on pig growth, health and meat quality. The effect of sugar beet pulp (SBP) supplementation in the diet on pork quality has not been widely reported. This study examines the effect of an SBP-supplemented (3%) diet (TG-I group) on 300 Large White/Norwegian Landrace pigs in terms of growth performance, blood parameters, microbial profiling of faeces, carcass parameters and meat quality, including the profiles of biogenic amines (BAs), fatty acids (FAs) and volatile compounds (VCs). After 163 days of the experiment, TG-I pigs had a significantly lower average daily gain and feed conversion ratio than pigs in the control group, as well as a significantly higher percentage of carcasses in the S and KN classes and a lower percentage in the E and U classes (p ≤ 0.05). Faeces of TG-I contained significantly more bacteria that are considered probiotic. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were found in most of the blood parameters, FA, VC profile and emotional responses between the two groups. Higher drip loss, protein content and redness, as well as lower cooking loss, intramuscular fat content and lightness were observed in the meat of TG-I. Most of the sensory properties, as well as overall acceptability, were rated higher for the meat of TG-I. Based on the results, a diet containing 3% of SBP could be beneficial for the improvement of pigs’ gut health and pork quality. However, further studies are needed to indicate which compounds of the SBP dietary fiber are responsible for these desirable changes.