Featuring fibres on the menu of pigs The role of fibres in regulating digestion

Samenvatting

During my PhD, I tried to better characterise the composition and the properties of fibres present in agricultural co-products. I also investigated the effects of fibre properties during digestion in pigs. By feeding different type of fibres to pigs and to a robot stomach, we found that the size and the capacity of fibres to retain water greatly affected digestive processes such as gastric acidity and emptying. The results of my thesis can be useful to predict the digestion of feed containing co-products by pigs, leading to their better utilisation by the livestock sector, which will contribute to the circularity of our food systems.