Beet Pulp: An Alternative to Improve the Gut Health of Growing Pigs.

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary fiber on the gut health of growing pigs. In total, 30 growing pigs with an initial average body weight of 45.8 ± 2.78 kg were divided into three groups with 10 replicates per treatment, and one pig per replicate. The treatments included a corn–soybean meal-based diet (control group, 1.5% crude fiber (CF)), corn–soybean meal + beet pulp-based diet (beet pulp group, 5.74% CF) and corn–soybean meal-based diet (feed intake-pairing group (pairing group); the feed intake was equal to the beet pulp group, 1.5% CF). The whole trial lasted 28 days. The beet pulp group had a longer length of the large intestine, higher weight of the small intestine and whole intestine, greater density of the large intestine and whole intestine, and higher villus height in the jejunum and ileum than the control group (p 0.05). These findings indicate feeding a high-fiber diet (5.74% CF, obtained from beet pulp) to pigs could modulate the gut microbiota composition, increase the short-chain fatty-acid (SCFA) content in the hindgut, and improve gut health, which is independent of the feed intake.