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In the present study, grape pomace (GP) was used as feed additive in the diet of weaned piglets in order to develop innovative feedstuffs and to investigate their potential beneficial effects on welfare, productivity and meat quality. For examining the antioxidant capacity of the experimental feeds, 24 piglets of 20 days old were assigned to two experimental groups receiving standard or experimental diet for 30 days. Blood and tissues collections were performed at four different time-points, 2, 20, 35 and 50 days post birth. The collected tissues were brain, heart, kidney, liver, lung, quadriceps muscle, pancreas, spleen and stomach. The following oxidative stress markers were assessed: reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase activity, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), protein carbonyls (CARB) and H2O2 decomposition activity. The effect on bacterial growth was assessed by examining microbial populations in piglets’ fecal microbiota. Furthermore, the average daily gain (ADG) was calculated and the fatty acid profile of quadriceps muscle was assessed. The results showed that piglets fed with the diet supplemented with GP, had significantly increased antioxidants mechanisms in almost all the tissues as shown by increases in GSH, H2O2 decomposition activity and TAC compared with control group. Piglets fed with the experimental diet exhibited decreased oxidative stress-induced damage to lipids and proteins as shown by decreases in TBARS and CARB in GP group compared with control. In addition, the experimental diet increased significantly ADG (by 23.65%) (P