PSXVI-8 - Taxifolin impact on the consequences of moderate heat stress in fattening pigs

The research aim is to study the efficiency of feeding Taxifolin (TAX) to pigs under moderate heat stress conditions. The experiment was performed on crossbred ((BWxL)xD) pigs (BW₁=17.2-17.4 kg, 58 days old, n = 27) during the fattening period. The animals were in 3 groups: Group 1-control (standard forage-SF, n = 9), Group 2-experimental (SF+32 mg/kg Tax, n = 9), Group 3-experimental (SF, feeding Tax (32 mg/kg) periodically for 7 days at the beginning and at the end of the experiment, as well as when changing feeds, n = 9). To simulate moderate heat stress, the temperature was within the range of +24.0...+27.5°C with a humidity of 60-85%. The TAX effect manifested as an “adaptive factor”, contributing to a decrease of blood cortisol in experimental Groups 2&3 in comparison with the Control Group in the middle (93.5±16.2&133.7±16.6 vs. 147.6±27.5, nmol/l, P < 0.5) and at the end of the experiment (234.4±61.2&253.2±46.4 vs. 284.8±86.8, nmol/l, P > 0.5). Under TAX influence the concentration of blood TBARS decreased by 11.44 (P < 0.05) and 11.80% (P < 0.01) against the control group (2.40±0.12&2.39±0.08 vs. 2.71±0.05, µmol/l). The use of TAX improved ADG in the experimental groups (Week 1, Group 2, P < 0.05; Week 8, Experimental Groups 2&3, p< 0.05) in comparison with the Control Group. A more significant difference in ADG was observed in the final fattening period (1062.2±25.0&1049.9±19.9 vs. 1000.3±24.9, g, P = 0.01), and in general, for the entire fattening period (120 days of experience), ADG was 887.9±13.2&881.6±15.8 vs. 865.2±12.0 g in Control (P > 0.5). In the experimental groups, there was a tendency (75.2±0.4&74.8±0.2 vs. 73.9±0.4, %, P < 0.1) to increase the digestibility of dry matter of feed at the end of fattening. Thus, it was found that feeding TAX to pigs prevents the negative effects of temperature stress factors. The work was supported by Grant No. 19-16-00068 of the Russian Science Foundation.