ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Microencapsulated Medium-Chain Fatty Acids as an Antibiotic Alternative Improve Intestinal Immunity and Microbiota Composition in Weaned Piglets
Provisionally accepted
- 1China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- 2Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
- 3Pamike Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Tianjin, China
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This study aimed to evaluate effects of microencapsulated medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immune response, and gut microbiota in weaned piglets. A total of 120 weaned piglets (Initial BW 6.38 ± 1.03 kg) were randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments for a 42-day trial: a corn-soybean meal basal diet (CON), a diet supplemented with 150 mg/kg colistin sulfate (AGP), or a diet supplemented with 0.15% microencapsulated MCFA (MOA), with 5 replicates of 8 piglets per treatment. During the overall period, the MOA group exhibited a higher average daily feed intake than both the CON and AGP groups (P < 0.05). Dietary MCFA supplementation significantly reduced (P < 0.05) diarrhea incidence in the first two weeks compared with the AGP group. On d 42, MCFA enhanced serum total antioxidant capacity compared with the AGP group and significantly lowered (P < 0.05) pro-inflammatory cytokines in the jejunum and colon compared with the CON group. On d 14, MCFA increased (P < 0.05) jejunal butyrate, lactate and jejunal and colonic total short chain fatty acids (SCFA) concentrations. Microbiota analysis revealed that MCFA modulated both jejunal and colonic communities, significantly enriching beneficial bacteria in the colon, such as Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and Roseburia. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 0.15% microencapsulated MCFA promoted feed intake, optimized intestinal microbiota composition and metabolism, and alleviated intestinal inflammation in weaned piglets.
Keywords: growth performance, Gut Microbiota, Medium-chain fatty acids, microencapsulation, Weaned piglets
Received: 24 Oct 2025; Accepted: 10 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Chen, Huang, Lang, Shang, Shao, Sun and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jinbiao Zhao
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