Influence of feed supplementation with <i>Tropaeolum majus L.</i> on growth performance and urine isothiocyanate concentration of piglets

Authors

  • Elke Bloem Julius Kühn-Institute – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Crop and Soil Science, Braunschweig, Germany
  • Andreas Berk Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute – Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Braunschweig, Germany
  • Silvia Haneklaus Julius Kühn-Institute – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Crop and Soil Science, Braunschweig, Germany
  • Dirk Selmar Technical University Carolo-Wilhelmina, Institute of Plant Biology, Braunschweig, Germany
  • Ewald Schnug Julius Kühn-Institute – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Crop and Soil Science, Braunschweig, Germany

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5073/JfK.2009.06.03

Keywords:

Tropaeolum majus, Pigs, Glucotropaeolin, Supplementation

Abstract

Tropaeolum majus L. is a herb with antimicrobial activity in humans, caused by the degradation product benzyl-isothiocyanate derived from enzymatic cleavage of glucotropaeolin. Piglets were fed diets with a graded supplementation of Tropaeolum majus for five weeks. Tropaeolum majus was supplemented at an upper dosage level of 1 g/kg with the feed, equaling 48.7 mg/kg glucotropaeolin, which resulted in a benzyl-isothiocyanate concentration in the urine of up to 2.4 mg/L, which is high enough to control a broad range of bacteria. On average 3.1 – 7.3% of the glucotropaeolin taken up by the animals was excreted as bioactive benzyl-isothiocyanate. Supplementation of the feed with Tropaeolum majus had no effect on growth performance of piglets.

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Published

2009-06-01

Issue

Vol. 61 No. 6 (2009)

Section

Original Article

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