Effect of yeast culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) supplementation on growth performance, blood metabolites, carcass traits, quality, and sensorial traits of meat from pigs under heat stress

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of yeast culture (YC) in pigs under heat stress conditions on growth performance, blood metabolites, carcass traits, quality, and sensorial values of the meat. Thirty pigs (29.487 ± 1.46 kg) were stratified by body weight (BW) and randomly assigned to the following treatments: 1) Control group animals received only the basal diet; 2) 0.2 % YC group animals received the basal diet with the addition of 0.2 % YC; 3) 0.3 % YC group animals received the basic diet supplemented with 0.3 % YC. The study was conducted in three phases based on BW: phase I (30–65 kg), phase II (65–95 kg), and phase III (95–128 kg). In phase I, the supplementation with YC at 0.2 % and 0.3 % produced average daily gain (ADG) values that were higher by 25.52 % and 23.701 %, respectively (P < 0.05), average daily feed intake (ADFI) values that were higher by 13.42 % and 11.85 %, respectively (P < 0.05), and a higher final weight (by 8.09 % and 7.26 %; P < 0.05), compared with the control diet. In phase II, the final weight was 7.35 % higher with the addition of 0.3 % YC (P < 0.05) compared with the control. In phase III, the final weight was higher by 4.16 % and 4.67 % with the addition of YC at 0.2 % and 0.3 % (P < 0.05), respectively, compared with the control. During the whole period (29.487–128.701 kg), improvements in ADG were observed with both levels of YC supplementation (0.2 % and 0.3 % YC) by 5.38 % and 6.09 % (P < 0.05) compared with the control. In terms of blood metabolites, supplementation with 0.3 % YC increased platelet numbers compared with the addition of 0.2 % YC (P < 0.05). For carcass traits, a higher carcass weight was recorded with the YC treatments at 0.3 % and 0.2 % (by 4.63 % and 5.27 %, respectively: P < 0.05) compared with the control. In terms of meat quality, the use of 0.2 % YC caused a decrease in redness (a*) by 10.03 %, (P < 0.05) and in yellowness (b*) by 15.52 % in contrast with the control (P < 0.05). A trained panel detected minimal changes in the sensorial values of the meat with YC supplementation (P> 0.05). In conclusion, YC improved both growth and carcass weight without markedly changing blood metabolites, carcass traits, quality, and sensorial values of the meat from pigs under heat stress conditions.