Rice and Cassava Distillers Dried Grains in Vietnam: Nutritional Values and Effects of Their Dietary Inclusion on Blood Chemical Parameters and Immune Responses of Growing Pigs

This work investigated the nutritional values of rice and cassava distillers dried grains (DDG) collected in Vietnam and effects of their supplementation on several blood chemical parameters and immune responses of growing pigs. These two DDGs were determined for approximate moisture, protein, lipid, ash, starch, calcium phosphorous, and amino acids. For the effects of dietary DDGs supplementation on chemical parameters of growing pigs, 30 crossbred TOPIG pigs were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental dietary treatments (control, 7% rice DDG or 4% cassava DDG). Cassava DDG was very rich in crude fiber (32.8%) and low in protein (12.0%) while rice DDG was highly rich in protein (70.4%) and low in fiber (2.9%). At the end of the feeding trial pig performance (average daily gain, feed intake and feed/gain ratio) were under the normal limits and no effect of dietary DDG was found. By contrast, a statistically significant decreasing effect of cassava DDG diets on glucose (− 12.55%) and iron (− 23.81%) concentration and a tendency to decrease triglycerides (− 21.87%) were found. The production of IgM and IgG also increased significantly by 26.5 and 18.7% in plasma of pigs fed with rice DDG diet. DDGs diets did not influence in a significant manner the gene expression of pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines.