Response of weanling pigs to dietary supplementation of vitamin C and/or rutin
1988
Yen, J.T. | Pond, W.G.
An experiment was conducted to evaluate dietary vitamin C supplementation and the role of rutin, flavonoid, in preserving the biological potency of vitamin C for weanling pigs. A 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments was used with two levels (0 and 330 ppm) of vitamin C and two levels (0 and 330 ppm) of rutin. An 18% protein corn-soybean meal-oats-dried whey starter diet was used as the basal diet. Experimental diets were fed ad libitum for 28 days to four pens of four crossbred pigs each weaned between 4 and 5 weeks of age (7.6 kg average initial weight). Plasma vitamin C concentration of all pigs decreased during the 4-week period after weaning. Dietary vitamin C supplementation increased plasma vitamin C concentration in the pigs but failed to improve significantly the weight gain of the pigs. Rutin supplementation under the conditions of this experiment increased plasma vitamin C concentration only at day 21 of the test and did not produce any improvement in the weight gain of the pigs. Plasma copper concentration of the pigs was not affected by the supplementation of vitamin C and/or rutin. It appears that rutin may not protect dietary vitamin C and, thus, does not preserve the biological potency of vitamin C for weanling pigs.
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