Dietary brown seaweed and plant polyphenols in hyperprolific sows: Productive performance, blood parameters and antioxidant status

This study evaluated the productive performance, blood parameters and antioxidant status of hyperprolific sows fed control diet or diet supplemented with brown seaweed and polyphenol mixture (SPM). Ninety-six farrowing highly prolific sows (Topigs 20) were assigned to two dietary treatments from day 107 ± 2 days of gestation until weaning: control diet and the same diet containing 15 g/day of SPM. Sows fed SPM diet tended to have lower backfat losses (P = 0.06) than control sows. No difference was observed in daily feed intake. No difference in litter birth weight or number of piglets per litter was observed. In sows fed SPM, average daily gain and weaning body weight of piglets were increased (P < 0.05). Haematochemical parameters, haptoglobin and blood total antiradical activity were not affected (P > 0.05) by dietary treatment. The paraoxonase-1 activity was higher (P < 0.05) in SPM sows than in the control. At the subsequent farrowing, the total number of piglets born was higher (P < 0.05) in sows fed SPM than in the control. Overall, these data suggest that dietary plant polyphenols and brown seaweeds improved the weaning weight of piglets and the total number of piglets born at the subsequent farrowing, modulating oxidative stress in lactating highly prolific sows.