Lower grinding intensity of cereals for dietetic effects in piglets

Abstract The grinding intensity of cereals as ingredients of pelleted diets has various effects on pigs' health and performance. Feeding a coarsely ground diet (62.2% of particles > 1 mm; 10%  Salmonella Derby (single oral dose of 4.4 × 10 10  cfu per piglet). In spite of the same infectious dosage in all piglets a marked reduction of Salmonella counts was found in chyme of piglets (sacrificed 4–6 h after experimental infection) when the coarsely ground diet including pdf was fed. It seems that coarse grinding of ingredients could have numerous dietetic advantages: reducing risks of Salmonella infection (faster elimination) as well as praebiotic effects in the hindgut by favouring gram positive bacteria like lactobacilli or gram positive cocci. Therefore, grinding intensity is worth to be reconsidered.