Effect of feeding pregnant gilts fermented potato extract protein on the prenatal development and semitendinosus muscle characteristics of newborn piglets

The skeletal muscle, which largely forms meat, constitutes most of the body mass in pigs. Growth and meat quality mainly depend on the relationship between prenatal and postnatal development. Feed additives are used in the diet of pigs to improve production efficiency. In this study, we determined the effect of feeding pregnant pigs fermented potato extract protein on the characteristics of the skeletal muscles of newborn piglets. Ten Danish gilts (Large white x Landrace) were supplemented with or without fermented potato extract protein (5 gilts each) during the gestation period. After parturition, two neonate piglets from each sow were randomly selected, and the birth weight, organ weight, morphometrics, and the characteristics of the semitendinosus muscle, including weight, length, circumference, muscle cross-sectional area (MCSA), number of total muscle fibers, number of primary fibers, number of secondary fibers, and the ratio of secondary to primary (S:P) fibers were recorded. The piglets from sows that were fed fermented potato extract protein showed a significantly higher S:P ratio (p = 0.02) than those from control sows. The weights of the body and visceral organs at birth tended to be higher in the newborn offspring of the treated sows. The supplementation with fermented potato extract protein during gestation in pigs can increase the S:P ratio, which can be used to follow changes in the hyperplasia of secondary fibers in the fetus and might also affect postnatal growth.