Effect of Citric Acid Supplementation on Growth and Nutrient Utilization in the Diet of Crossbred Pigs

In a completely randomized design, 24 crossbred (LWY X Desi) male pigs (16.4 ± 0.25 kg) were divided at random into 4 equal groups to study the effect of supplementing(%) citric acid at 0.6 (T 1 ),0.9 (T 2 ) and 1.2 (T 3 ) and 0 (T 4 ) to the grower (15-35 kg) ration on nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance and growth performance. The digestibility of DM, CP, NFE and N retention were higher (P<0.01) in T 2 as compared to other groups. The ADG and the efficiency of feed utilization was also higher in (P<0.05) in T 2 in comparison to others. It was concluded that citric acid supplementation at 0.9% in the diet was beneficial in improving the nutrient digestibility and daily gain of crossbred pigs.