Arginine improves nutritional quality of sow milk and piglet performance

• Autor(a) principal: Moreira, Rennan Herculano Rufino
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Lanferdini, Eloiza, Fonseca, Leonardo da Silva, Chaves, Rhuan Filipe, Garbossa, Cesar Augusto Pospissil, Saraiva, Alysson, Nogueira, Eduardo Terra, Abreu, Márvio Lobão Teixeira de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFLA
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.ufla.br/jspui/handle/1/34565
• topic: Amino acid; Milk composition; L-arginine - Suplementation; Aminoácido; Composição do leite; L-arginina - Suplementação

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of L-arginine supplementation in lactation diets on the productive and reproductive performance of pluriparous sows and their litters. Seventy-six sows of the same genetic line were assigned to four treatments in a completely randomized design with 19 replicates. The experimental unit was the sow and its respective litter. Treatments comprised a control diet (no L-arginine supplementation) and other three diets obtained by top dressing the control diet with 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% of L-arginine. L-arginine supplementation had no effect on any performance variables, body condition, milk production, or weaning-estrus interval. There was a quadratic effect on percentage of protein and fat in milk as well as on the daily production of these components. Protein and fat percentage declined during lactation. Adding L-arginine to the diet had a quadratic effect on piglet weight at 13 and 21 days, the optimal level of L-arginine supplementation being estimated as 0.64% and 0.71%, respectively. L-arginine supplementation had a quadratic effect on the weight gain of piglets during the first 13 days and on total period of lactation, the optimal level of L-arginine supplementation being estimated as 0.60% and 0.70%, respectively. Supplementing lactation diets with 0.70% of L-arginine, corresponding to 45 g day−1, improves the weight gain of piglets by improving the nutritional quality of sow milk.