1Institute of Animal Nutrition, University of Hohenheim, Emil-Wolff-Str. 10, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany.
2Department of Animal Science, Sebelas Maret University, Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A, 57126, Surakarta, Indonesia.
* Corresponding author E-mail: rhmosent@uni-hohenheim.de
To investigate the effects of dietary betaine supplementation on ileal and total tract nutrient digestibilities and intestinal bacterial fermentation characteristics, 4 barrows (8.6 kg) were fitted with simple T-cannulae at the distal ileum. They were randomly allocated to a basal diet without or with 4.5 g betaine per kg assay diet (Betaine) with 4 repeated measurement periods. The betaine supplementation increased (P<0.05) ileal digestibility of dry matter by 1.2 percentage units and tended to increase ileal crude fiber (P=0.068) and glycine (P=0.057) digestibilities by 7.5 and 3.3 percentage units, respectively. Furthermore, betaine supplementation tended (P=0.117) to increase total tract crude fiber digestibility by 4.7 percentage units. Moreover, dietary betaine inclusion increased ileal short-chain fatty acid and fecal diaminopimelic acid concentrations (P<0.05), which indicates intensified intestinal bacterial activity. In conclusion, dietary betaine stimulates bacterial fermentation of fiber in the small and large intestine.
Betaine, piglets, digestibility, bacterial fermentation
