Table 3 Effect of diets on gastrointestinal tract variables and intestinal morphology of piglets.

	Diets				SEM	P-value
	Control	CH	CH + R	CH + M	SEM	P-value
Relative length of gastrointestinal tract, m/kg
Small intestine	0.733	0.657	0.656	0.710	0.010	0.0882
Large intestine	0.145	0.139	0.142	0.151	0.003	0.6056
Content viscosity, cP
Duodenum + jejunum	2.64^a	3.64^b	3.63^b	3.70^b	0.15	0.0202
Ileum	5.00	5.64	4.73	5.42	0.28	0.6762
pH
Stomach	3.95	4.10	4.07	3.86	0.063	0.4475
Duodenum + jejunum	5.67^ab	5.42^c	5.57^bc	5.73^a	0.033	0.0028
Ileum	6.37^a	5.93^b	5.87^b	5.96^b	0.069	0.0383
Caecum	5.67	5.71	5.65	5.92	0.055	0.3120
Colon	6.19	6.25	6.19	6.22	0.036	0.9260
Villus height, μm
Duodenum	339^a	424^b	414^b	402^b	10.8	0.0160
Jejunum	376	428	399	399	17.7	0.7893
Ileum	327	370	376	321	9.7	0.0978
Villus width, μm
Duodenum	187	175	177	192	2.9	0.1293
Jejunum	152	146	159	163	3.6	0.4021
Ileum	195	182	176	186	3.9	0.3696
Crypt depth, μm
Duodenum	503	469	489	431	11.2	0.1130
Jejunum	345	343	367	349	7.0	0.6332
Ileum	313	299	272	267	7.7	0.0902
Villus height/crypt depth
Duodenum	0.686^a	0.911^b	0.859^b	0.967^b	0.03	0.0088
Jejunum	1.10	1.26	1.10	1.14	0.05	0.6784
Ileum	1.07	1.26	1.44	1.24	0.05	0.0775

Control = control diet; CH = Chlorella vulgaris diet; CH + R = C. vulgaris diet supplemented with Rovabio® Excel AP; CH + M = C. vulgaris diet supplemented with a pre-selected enzymatic mixture.
^a,b,cValues within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05.

Quick links

Search