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ORIGINAL PAPER
Effects of dietary brown algae (Ascophyllum nodosum) on mineral
digestibility and femoral bone properties
in growing piglets
1
University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Faculty of Environmental Biology, Department of Biophysics,
Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
2
University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, Department of Biochemistry and Toxicology, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
3
University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Animal Physiology, Akademicka 12, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Publication date: 2025-12-17
Corresponding author
A. Czech
University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, Department of Biochemistry and Toxicology, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, Department of Biochemistry and Toxicology, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation with
brown macroalgae (Ascophyllum nodosum) at two inclusion levels (0.6% and
1.0%) on mineral digestibility, serum mineral concentrations, and femoral bone
characteristics in piglets. A total of 210 piglets were randomly assigned to
control (0%) or supplemented diets (0.6% or 1% macroalgae) from day 18 to
day 64. Supplementation at the 1.0% level significantly improved digestibility
and serum concentrations of essential minerals including calcium, phosphorus,
magnesium, copper, and iron. Meanwhile, the 0.6% supplementation led to
greater improvements in femoral bone mechanical properties, such as fracture
load, elastic work, and work to fracture, as well as in material properties, including
fracture and yield stress. These findings indicate that moderate supplementation
with A. nodosum (0.6%) is most effective in optimising bone mechanical
strength, and may represent a practical dietary strategy for improving skeletal
development in fast-growing piglets.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The Authors declare that there is no conflict of
interest.
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