with previous investigators, who observed no growth improvement
when supplementing curcumin at levels less than 200mg/kg inweaned
pigs [25]. Similarly, Liu et al. found that addition of 10 ppm of turmeric
oleoresin had no influence on growth performance of E. coli-infected
pigs [26]. However, in our study, supplementation with 300 mg/kg or
400 mg/kg curcumin significantly reduced feed/gain ratio. It is possible
that a higher dose is required to elicit an effect. Platel and Srinivasan reported
that pancreatic enzyme activity was significantly enhanced by
addition of 5 g/kg of curcumin in diets of rats [27]. This indicates that
curcumin may have properties as a digestive enhancer, and thus improve
growth performance.