Effect of the substitution of soybean meal by dehydrated yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as protein source in diets to weaned piglets on the weight of digestive tract organs and activity of pancreatic enzymes

Abstract

The effects of the substitution of crude protein (CP) of soybean meal (SBM) by CP of dehydrated yeast Spray dry (DYSD) on the weight and development of the digestive organs and the activities of pancreatic enzymes were evaluated in this research. For this purpose 60 twenty one days old weaned pigs were distributed according to randomized blocks design with a factorial arrangement 5x4 (5 levels of substitution: 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 % of the SBM crude protein by DYSD crude protein in the diet x 4 periods of time: 0, 4, 8 and 12 days post weaning). The DYSD did not have any influence on daily weight gain, weight of stomach and daily feed intake (DFI), however the intestinal weight increased quadraticaly and the weight of pancreas decreased linearly. The activity of tripsin did not change, on the other hand lipase (measured as activity units/g pancreas) and amylase decreased in a quadratic and linear sequence respectively with de increase of DYSD in the diet. Evaluated the weaning periods, it may be concluded that a decrease in the protein content and the growth rate of pancreas, associated with a low DFI found in the first days of post weaning, they may be the causes of shortening in the synthesis of pancreatic enzymes.