Dietary Inclusion of 10% Fresh Chicory Alters Cecal Microbiota and Muscle Metabolite Profiles and Increases Intramuscular Fat in Diqing Tibetan Pigs

Chicory holds considerable promise as a nutritious feed alternative. This study investigated the associations of dietary inclusion of 10% fresh chicory (dry-matter basis) with growth performance, meat quality, cecal microbiota, and muscle metabolite profiles in Diqing Tibetan pigs using integrated metagenomic and widely targeted metabolomic analyses. Thirty-six castrated male growing–finishing Diqing Tibetan pigs were randomly allocated into control and chicory-supplemented groups. Our findings revealed that the 10% fresh chicory inclusion did not compromise growth performance. Moreover, the chicory diet was associated with a significant enrichment of Prevotella sp., Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, and Bacteroides uniformis within the cecum. Importantly, these specific microbial shifts exhibited correlations with alterations in the muscle metabolite profile. We observed that the chicory intervention was accompanied by elevated levels of glycerol 3-phosphate and glycerophospholipids, alongside a reduction in acylcarnitines. These exploratory associations suggest a potential link to shifted triglyceride metabolism, which corresponds to the significantly higher intramuscular fat content observed in the experimental group (5.89 ± 0.98) versus the control (4.23 ± 0.23). Overall, dietary inclusion of 10% fresh chicory was associated with changes in the cecal microbiota and muscle metabolome and supports further evaluation of fresh chicory as a forage ingredient in pig diets.