Effects of Enzymatic Hydrolysate of Cottonseed Protein on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Blood Indexes and Fecal Volatile Fatty Acids of Weaned Piglets

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of enzymatic hydrolysate of cottonseed protein (EHCP) replacing soybean meal on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood indexes and fecal volatile fatty acid concentrations of weaned piglets. Thirty 'Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire' 28-day-old weaned piglets (male) with an initial body weight of 8.29 ± 0.76 kg were randomly divided into 3 treatment groups with 10 replicates per treatment and 1 pig per replicate. The control group was fed a corn-soybean meal basal diet, and the experimental groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 2% 65%EHCP and 1.3% 85%EHCP to replace soybean meal, respectively. The experiment period was 21 days. Compared with the control group, the final body weight, average daily gain and average daily feed intake in 65%EHCP group and 85%EHCP group were significantly increased (p < 0.05); both the 65%EHCP and 85%EHCP groups exhibited significantly higher digestibility of energy and crude fat compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Notably, the energy digestibility in the 85%EHCP group was also significantly greater than that in the 65%EHCP group (p < 0.05). When compared to the control group, the blood urea nitrogen concentration was significantly lower in both the 65%EHCP and the 85%EHCP groups (p < 0.01). The concentrations of alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and tyrosine in serum were significantly higher in the 65%EHCP and 85%EHCP groups compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Additionally, in the 85%EHCP group, the concentrations of methionine and threonine in serum were significantly increased when compared to both the control group and the 65%EHCP group (p < 0.05). On the other hand, valine levels in the 65%EHCP group were significantly higher than in the 85%EHCP group (p < 0.05). Compared with the control group, fecal acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid and total volatile fatty acid concentration in the 65%EHCP group and 85%EHCP group were significantly increased (p < 0.01). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of EHCP can improve growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood indexes and volatile fatty acids concentrations in feces of weaned piglets. This study suggests that EHCP can effectively substitute common soybean meal in the diets of weaned piglets and serves as a theoretical basis for its use in pig feeding practices.