The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of dietary supplementation with extracts of differently polymerised inulin and inulin-containing plants (Jerusalem artichoke, chicory) on selected slaughter parameters in swine as well as on their blood profile associated with the mineral status of an organism and the functional status of the liver. The experiment was carried out throughout an entire fattening period and involved 120 pigs with the initial weight of 30.0 ± 0.5 kg. The pigs were divided into 5 groups. The dietary treatments consisted of control diet (CON) and control diet supplemented with extracts of inulin (EI) - standard inulin (SI; average degree of polymerisation ≥ 10) or long-chain inulin (LCI, average degree of polymerization ≥ 23), and control diet supplemented with inulin-containing plants (ICP): Jerusalem artichoke (JA) or chicory (CH). The overall inulin content in the treatments was similar (20 g inulin·kg-1 diet). The ICP treatments increased the iron, zinc, and copper content in pig blood plasma and the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration. They also reduced the activity of liver enzymes in blood plasma, compared with the control. In the EI treatments, an increase in the plasma iron concentration and the MCHC value and a decrease in the relative liver weight and stabilisation of the activity of liver enzymes in relation to the control were noted. The effect of inulin supplementation was more pronounced when the compound was added to the diet in the first fattening stage.  

24.2.2019