Amomum longiligulare polysaccharide 1 supplementation promotes the proliferation of jejunal epithelial cells in piglets by regulating jejunal metabolites.

Although natural polysaccharides often have growth-promoting effects on animals, little is known about how polysaccharides act when they are administered as feed additives. This work shows that Amomum longiligulare polysaccharide 1 (ALP1) improves the growth performance of piglets by promoting the proliferation of jejunal epithelial cells. ALP1 improves the growth performance of piglets, increasing the average daily gain by 32.71 % and reducing the feed-to-gain (F/G) ratio by 21.93 %. The gut microbiota is an important regulatory target of polysaccharides. The results of jejunal microbiota transplantation trials indicate that the jejunal microbiota from ALP1-fed piglets exhibits better growth performance and that the F/G ratio is reduced by 12.72 %. Furthermore, 16S rDNA sequencing and nontargeted metabolomic analyses reveal that ALP1 supplementation can increase the abundance of Lactobacillus in the jejuna of piglets, resulting in a high abundance of 11Z-eicosenoic acid (EA). In addition, EA increases the villus height-to-crypt depth (VH/CD) ratio in the jejunum by 27.41 %, potentially increasing epithelial cell proliferation. These results suggest that oral ALP1 supplementation promotes growth by modulating the composition of the jejunal microbiota and its associated metabolites.