Dietary garcinol supplementation improves diarrhea and intestinal barrier function associated with its modulation of gut microbiota in weaned piglets

The effects of dietary garcinol on diarrhea and intestinal barrier function associated with its modulation of gut microbiota in weaned piglets were investigated. One hundred forty four weaned piglets (Duroc × Yorkshire × Landrace) from 16 pens (9 piglets per pen) were randomly divided into four treatment groups: controls (CON) or those supplemented with 200 mg/kg (LOW), 400 mg/kg (MID), or 600 mg/kg (HIGH) diet garcinol. After 14-day trial, three piglets per pen were chosen to collect plasma, intestinal tissue and colonic digesta samples. We demonstrated for the first time that garcinol promoted growth performance, as increased average daily feed intake (ADFI) and decreased feed/gain ratio (F/G); and reduced diarrhea incidence (