Pigs and glucosinolates

This 2020 porcine study subject was improving healthy aspects of canola-oil-processing by-products:

“We hypothesized that inclusion of high-amylose cornstarch (HA-starch) in canola co-products-based diets for pigs can reduce hindgut pH, leading to increased degradation of glucosinolates present in hindgut of pigs into non-goitrogenic products. Most dietary myrosinases [enzymes] are inactivated by heat during cooking, pressing and toasting of canola seeds during oil extraction, implying that microorganisms that reside in the hindgut of pigs are a major source of myrosinase that degrade glucosinolates into various metabolites.

Negative effects of dietary cold-pressed canola cake (CPCC) on thyroid gland functions of nursery pigs were alleviated by dietary HA-starch. Composition of glucosinolate degradation products was dependent on parent glucosinolate type and pH conditions.

Dietary resistant starch for nursery pigs reduced cecal digesta pH from 6.07 to 5.37. Resistant starch escaped enzymatic digestion in the small intestine, and was highly fermented in hindgut of pigs.

total canola gluconisolates

Since dietary HA-starch at 40% reduced growth performance of pigs in the current study, there is a need to identify optimal dietary level of HA-starch that does not compromise growth performance of pigs fed canola co-product-based diet, or to identify alternative strategies that can be used to reduce pH in the hindgut of pigs fed canola co-product-containing diet without compromising growth performance.”

https://academic.oup.com/jas/article-abstract/98/5/skaa111/5817019 “Toxicity of canola-derived glucosinolates in pigs fed resistant starch-based diets” (not freely available)


Pig metabolism is similar to humans. Glucosinolate compound effects weren’t similar to those in sulforaphane studies because their contexts were different. Eat oats to prevent diabetes also provided evidence for what dietary resistant starch and β-glucan can achieve.

Found this study through a search term “indole-3-carbinol” restricted for 2021. It was cited in Toxicity of Canola-Derived Glucosinolate Degradation Products in Pigs—A Review coauthored by the same researchers.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.