Effects of Dietary Yeast Cell Wall Polysaccharides Supplementation to Late Gestation and Lactation Diets on Reproductive Performance and Blood Profiles of Sows and Their Offspring

This study was conducted to determine the effects of yeast cell wall polysaccharides（YCWP） on reproductive performance, serum profiles and milk composition during late gestation and lactation. A total of 96 sows（Landrace × Yorkshire） were blocked on a basis of breed, parity（2-3）and their respective d 85 of gestation, and then randomly allotted to the following three dietary treatments： CON（basal diet, treatment 1）, YCWP1（CON＋0.2% YCWP, treatment 2） and YCWP2（CON＋0.4% YCWP, treatment 3）. The experiment lasted from d 85 of gestation to weaning（d 21 of lactation）. Sows fed YCWP diets had lower backfat thickness reduction from postpartum to weaning（ P〈0.05）. The supplementation of YCWP tended to increase litter weight at weaning（P=0.08） compared with CON. The non-lipid and total milk solids in colostrum was improved by YCWP2（P〈0.05）.No differences were observed in milk composition among dietary treatments（ P〉0.05）. The supplementation of YCWP decreased（P〈0.05） the levels of alanine amino transferase（ALT）, aspartate amino transferase（AST）, while it did not affect（ P〉0.05） alkaline phosphatase（ALP）, total protein（TP）,albumin（ALB）, globulin（GLB）, glucose（GLU）, total cholesterol（TC）, triglyceride（TG） or immunoglobulin G（IgG） in the sow serum. The serum IgG of piglets was increased by the YCWP. The levels of serum ALT and AST were reduced（P〈0.05） for suckling piglets in YCWP treatments. Taken together, the results of current studies might indicate beneficial effects of YCWP supplementation to late gestation and lactation diets on the sow productivity by improving litter weight at weaning, reducing backfat loss, and increasing serum IgG concentrations of piglets.

Antioxidant properties of cell wall polysaccharides of Stevia rebaudiana leaves

Objective:To examine the total phenolic and protein contents,and the antioxidant activities of cell wall polysaccharide fractions of Stevia rebaudiana leaves.Methods:Three different polysaccharide-enriched fractions,namely FPE(extract with 50 mmol/L ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid),FPK(extract with 0.05 mol/L KOH)and FH(extract with 4 mol/L KOH)were extracted from Stevia rebaudiana leaves.The antioxidant activity of these fractions was evaluated based on their ability to scavenge DPPH(1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl)free radical,to reduce ferric power,to chelate ferrous ion and to protect human DNA.Results:The results indicated that protein content was found to be higher in FPK polysaccharide enriched fraction(47.48μg per mg of FPK).Furthermore,the phenolic compound analysis according to the Folin-Ciocalteu method was higher in FPK(17.71μg ferulic acid).The DPPH maximal inhibition percentage of the three polysaccharide-enriched fractions at 400μg/mL was 27.66%,59.90%and 23.21%respectively for FPE,FPK and FH.All the polysaccharide fractions exhibited a ferric reducing power except the FH one.The three fractions also exhibited lipid peroxidation inhibition,and they completely reverted the DNA damage induced by H_(2)O_(2)/FeCl_(2).FPK showed the strongest scavenging activity against the DPPH radical,the best chelating ability and lipid peroxidation inhibition.Conclusions:Stevia cell wall polysaccharide fractions are potent protective agents against oxidative stress.The analysis revealed major differences in the antioxidant activity in the three polysaccharides fractions.However,the 0.05 mol/L KOH pectin fraction(FPK)showed better antioxidant activity.