Feeding dietary fermentable fiber improved fecal microbial composition and increased acetic acid production in a nursery pig model.

In nursery pigs, dietary fiber has received increasing attention because of its beneficial effects on the development and functional aspects of the gut. The most common physicochemical classification of dietary fiber is to divide it into two categories based on its solubility in water, as an indicator of its potential function and physiological effects in the gastrointestinal tract. Generally, soluble fiber, as the primary source of microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids, is considered a useful predictor of the degree of microbial fermentation in the gut. Although fiber solubility may provide the first valuable information regarding physiological considerations of fermentability, it is not applicable to all fibrous ingredients, such as soluble carboxymethylcellulose, which is difficult to ferment. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the fermentable fiber (FF) content of several common fibrous ingredients fed to nursery pigs, and then evaluate the effect of dietary FF level on growth performance and fecal microbial composition of nursery pigs.