What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to assess how reducing dietary protein and adding protease affect growth in weaned piglets.

June 27, 2026Open Access

Protease Supplementation Partially Alleviates the Negative Effects of Low-Protein Diets on Growth Performance in Weaned Piglets

WZWei Han ZhaoDankook University SCSi Yeong ChoiDankook University IKIn Ho KimNational Institute of Ecology

Key Points

This research aims to assess how reducing dietary protein and adding protease affect growth in weaned piglets.
200 crossbred weaned piglets were assigned to four dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design for 31 days.
Treatments included a control diet and low-protein diets with either 1% or 2% reduction in crude protein, along with one supplemented with protease.
Growth performance was measured through body weight, average daily gain, and other factors.
Piglets on the 2% low-protein diet showed significantly lower body weight on multiple days (p < 0.05).
Protease supplementation partially restored body weight and average daily gain compared to the unsupplemented group.
Other metrics, including feed intake, digestibility, and fecal score, were not significantly affected (p > 0.05).

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of reducing dietary crude protein (CP) levels and protease supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and fecal score in weaned piglets. A total of 200 crossbred weaned piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire), with an initial body weight (BW) of 6.01 ± 1.14 kg, were used in a 31-day feeding trial. Piglets were assigned to four dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with 10 replicates per treatment and five piglets per pen. The treatments were as follows: CON, basal diet; TRT1, low-protein diet with CP reduced by 1%; TRT2, low-protein diet with CP reduced by 2%; and TRT3, TRT2 supplemented with 0.1 g/kg protease. Piglets fed TRT2 had lower BW on days 7, 19, and 31 (p 0.05). In conclusion, reducing dietary CP by 2% impaired growth performance in weaned piglets, whereas protease supplementation partially alleviated this negative effect without significantly altering nutrient digestibility or fecal score.

Demander à l'IA

Bookmark

View Full Paper