DISCUSSION
The effectiveness of organic acids to improve pig performance
was evaluated in previous studies. Many different
organic acids have been fed, including formic,
fumaric, acetic, lactic, citric, propionic, and sorbic acids
either alone or in some combination (Partanen and
Mroz, 1999). Each acid has unique properties, including
its pKa, and therefore, results cannot be generalized
from one acid to another. In addition, differing salts of
formate also affect animal response. Overland et al.
(2000) reported that K-diformate was more effective to
improve ADG and feed conversion efficiency than NaCa-formate.
The K-diformate provided both formate
and formic acid, whereas the Na-Ca-formate provided
formate only. Thus, K-diformate would have greater
potential antimicrobial activity.