The effects of fermented soybean meal on growth performance and immune characteristics in weaned piglets

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of fermented soybean meal (FSBM) on growth performance and immune characteristics of piglets. In all, 60 crossbred piglets (Duroc x Landrace x Yorkshire) were allocated to 2 dietary treatments; 3 replications of 10 pigs were used for each treatment, and all piglets were weaned at 35 days and fed for 23 days. The results showed that average daily gain (ADG) improved (1.44% vs. 1.36%) in piglets fed the FSBM diet and feed gain ratio (FGR) decreased by 5.56% (P < 0.05) compared to the controls (soybean meal treatment). The level of serum IgG decreased 27.2% (P < 0.01) in piglets fed FSBM. Lymphocytes from whole blood had a lower proliferative response to concanavalin A (ConA) (P < 0.01) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the splenocytes of piglets fed FSBM also showed lower proliferative response to ConA (P < 0.05) and LPS (P < 0.01). The results indicated that FSBM was beneficial to growth performance and decreased the immune response to soybean protein in piglets.