Effects of catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) or coconut (Cocos nucifera) oil, and water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) in diets on growth/cost performances and carcass traits of finishing pigs

Twenty-four crossbred (Landrace x Yorkshire) finishing pigs with an average live weight of 56.8+-1.8kg (mean +- S.E.) comprising equal numbers of barrows and gilts were used for 48 days. Couples of both a barrow and gilt were randomly allocated to a total of 12 pens. The trial was designed as a 2 x 2 factorial experiment with dietary treatments which consisted of diets containing 5.0% catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) or coconut (Cocos nucifera) oil (F5 or C5, respectively), with or without 5.8% water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) (W0 or W6, respectively). No significant effects or interaction by the treatments were found on the daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and cost conversion ratio expressed as feed cost multiplied by FCR (p 0.1). An interaction on backfat thickness was found (p 0.05); it tended to be lower (p 0.1) for diets supplemented with catfish oil than for diets with coconut oil, when water spinach was not added; and it was reduced (p 0.001) by the water spinach supplementation, when coconut oil was also supplemented. As for the carcass traits, the types of oils had an effect on the iodine value of backfat; the value was significantly higher in F5 diets than that in C5 diets (p 0.001). Significant differences were found in the pH values, the DM (dry matter) content of fresh loin muscle and the iodine value of backfat between W0 and W6 diets (p 0.01). Overall, a diet with 5.8% water spinach and that with 5.0% catfish oil with no water spinach would be recommended to improve the farmers' common pig diet in the region.