Effects of dietary l-arginine on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, gas emission, and meat quality in finishing pigs

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary l -arginine supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, gas emission and meat quality. A total of 120 crossbred [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] pigs with an average initial body weight (BW) of 53.80 ± 1.86 kg were used in this 10-week feeding trial. The pigs were randomly allotted to 1 of 3 dietary treatments (5 pigs/pen and 8 replicates/treatment) in a randomized complete block design according to their sex (2 gilts and 3 barrows) and BW. Dietary treatments included: 1) CON (basal diet); 2) LA0.5 (CON + 0.5 g/kg l -arginine); 3) LA1.0 (CON + 1.0 g/kg l -arginine). The result showed that l -arginine did not affect pig growth performance, nutrient digestibility, or gas emission. However, dietary l -arginine supplementation linearly increased (P l -arginine improved meat quality without any significant effect on growth performance in finishing pigs.