Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition

Present study was conducted to investigate the effect of betaine supplementation on serum metabolite profile in gestating sows. For the study, eighteen crossbred (Landrace X Desi) inseminated sows were randomly distributed into three treatment groups with six sows per treatment in completely randomized design. Animals in T₀ (control) group were fed basal diet, whereas, T₁ and T₂ treatment groups were fed basal diet supplemented with betaine @ 3g/kg dry matter either during late gestation (76 days before to farrowing) or throughout the length of gestation, respectively. There were no significant (P>0.05) differences in serum glucose, albumin, globulin, total protein, albumin/globulin ratio and creatinine levels among the groups. whereas, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly(P<0.05) lower in T₂ group as compared to T₀ and T₁groups. Thus, it can be concluded that, dietary betaine supplementation @ 3 g/kg throughout the length of gestation was helpful in decreasing the serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in sows.