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Article

Gestational Inulin Supplementation in Low-/High-Fat Sow Diets: Effects on Growth Performance, Lipid Metabolism, and Meat Quality of Offspring Pigs

by
Pan Zhou
1,†,
Yachao Wu
1,†,
Jianbo Shen
1,
Tao Duan
1,
Long Che
2,
Yong Zhang
1,
Yang Zhao
3,* and
Honglin Yan
1,*
1
School of Life Science and Agro-Forestry, Southwest University of Science and Technology, 59 Qinglong Road, Mianyang 621010, China
2
College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, No. 6 North Longzihu Road, Zhengdong New District, Zhengzhou 450046, China
3
Animal Breeding and Genetics Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Animal Science Academy, Chengdu 610066, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to the article.
Foods 2025, 14(8), 1314; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081314
Submission received: 22 February 2025 / Revised: 2 April 2025 / Accepted: 7 April 2025 / Published: 10 April 2025
(This article belongs to the Topic Dietary Carbohydrate Chemistry, Nutrition, and Utilization)
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Abstract

This study investigated whether the supplementation of prebiotic inulin to gestating sows programmatically affects offspring growth performance and meat quality while exploring its epigenetic effects through histone acetylation modulation. After mating, sixty multiparous sows (Landrace × Yorkshire; parity 2–3) were assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with inulin (0% vs. 1.5%) and fat (0% or 5%) supplementation until farrowing. Post-weaning, five litters (10 piglets per litter) per treatment were selected and maintained in their original litter for fattening under standardized feeding. The results demonstrated that maternal inulin supplementation during gestation accomplished the following: (1) Increased offspring liver index by 13.4% at weaning and 6.8% at finishing (p < 0.05) while reducing the finishing-phase backfat thickness by 11.6% (p < 0.01), with a significant inulin × fat interaction attenuating fat-induced abdominal lipid accumulation at weaning (p = 0.05). (2) Decreased longissimus dorsi muscle lightness (L*) by 4.5% in finishing pigs (p = 0.02) without altering the other meat quality parameters. (3) Suppressed offspring liver lipid deposition at birth and finishing (p < 0.05), concomitant with upregulated hepatic PGC-1α and CPT1A expression (p < 0.05). (4) Elevated neonatal serum butyrate by 15.6% (p = 0.06) while inhibiting hepatic histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity and enhancing histone H3/H4 acetylation (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that maternal inulin supplementation during gestation mitigates offspring hepatic lipid deposition through butyrate-mediated epigenetic regulation, where microbial-derived butyrate from inulin fermentation inhibits HDAC activity, enhances histone acetylation levels, and upregulates fatty acid β-oxidation gene expression. This study provides novel mechanistic insights into how maternal dietary fiber nutrition programs offspring development through epigenetic reprogramming.
Keywords: maternal nutrition; dietary fiber; epigenetics; lipid metabolism; meat quality maternal nutrition; dietary fiber; epigenetics; lipid metabolism; meat quality

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MDPI and ACS Style

Zhou, P.; Wu, Y.; Shen, J.; Duan, T.; Che, L.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, Y.; Yan, H. Gestational Inulin Supplementation in Low-/High-Fat Sow Diets: Effects on Growth Performance, Lipid Metabolism, and Meat Quality of Offspring Pigs. Foods 2025, 14, 1314. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081314

AMA Style

Zhou P, Wu Y, Shen J, Duan T, Che L, Zhang Y, Zhao Y, Yan H. Gestational Inulin Supplementation in Low-/High-Fat Sow Diets: Effects on Growth Performance, Lipid Metabolism, and Meat Quality of Offspring Pigs. Foods. 2025; 14(8):1314. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081314

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhou, Pan, Yachao Wu, Jianbo Shen, Tao Duan, Long Che, Yong Zhang, Yang Zhao, and Honglin Yan. 2025. "Gestational Inulin Supplementation in Low-/High-Fat Sow Diets: Effects on Growth Performance, Lipid Metabolism, and Meat Quality of Offspring Pigs" Foods 14, no. 8: 1314. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081314

APA Style

Zhou, P., Wu, Y., Shen, J., Duan, T., Che, L., Zhang, Y., Zhao, Y., & Yan, H. (2025). Gestational Inulin Supplementation in Low-/High-Fat Sow Diets: Effects on Growth Performance, Lipid Metabolism, and Meat Quality of Offspring Pigs. Foods, 14(8), 1314. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081314

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