A supply chain approach to improving the shelf life of lamb meat; vitamin E concentration, electrical stimulation, ageing period and packaging system

Effects of multiple vitamin E levels and two fat sources in diets for swine fed to heavy slaughter weight of 150 kg: I. Growth performance, lean growth, organ size, carcass characteristics, primal cuts, and pork quality

The study objective was to evaluate the effect of two fat source and graded levels of vitamin E (VE) supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of pigs at heavy slaughter weight (150 kg). A total of 48 individually-fed pigs (24 barrows, 24 gilts; 28.44  ± 2.69 kg) were blocked by sex and weight and randomly assigned to eight dietary treatments in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement. Fat treatments were 5% tallow (TW) and distiller's corn-oil (DCO) in the diets. The VE treatments included four levels of α-tocopheryl-acetate (11, 40, 100, and 200 ppm). Growth performance, carcass traits, organ weight, primal cuts, and pork quality were measured. Increasing dietary VE supplementation levels linearly increased overall Average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (P < 0.05), with an interaction between fat sources and VE supplementation levels on cumulative ADG (P < 0.05) during phases 1 and 3 (28 to 100 kg) and 1 to 4 (28 to125 kg) wherein ADG in the pigs fed the DCO diet, but not the TW diet, increased with increasing dietary VE supplementation level. A similar interaction was observed in 24 h pH and picnic shoulder (P < 0.05). No notable effect of fat source was observed in growth performance. With increasing dietary VE supplementation levels, there were quadratic responses in pork pH at 45 min and 24 h postmortem with the highest value in 40 and 100 ppm of VE levels while TBARS values on day 7 postmortem decreased linearly (P < 0.05). Compared with the TW diet, the DCO diet resulted in greater TBARS values during 7 postmortem (P < 0.05; day 5, P = 0.09). These results demonstrated that increasing dietary VE supplementation level could enhance growth rate and feed intake and reduce lipid peroxidation of pork whereas the diet containing DCO as a fat source could negatively affect pork shelf-life and carcass characteristics and that increasing VE supplementation level had no notable interaction with fat sources for carcass characteristics.

Insights into the role of major bioactive dietary nutrients in lamb meat quality: a review

Feed supplementation with α-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) increases their content in muscle, ALA increases n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and decrease n-6/n-3 ratio in muscle, and LA increases rumenic acid. However, high LA supplementation may have negative effects on lambs’ lipid oxidative stability of meat. When the sources of ALA and LA are fed as fresh forage, the negative effects are counterbalanced by the presence of other bioactive compounds, as vitamin E (mainly α-tocopherol) and polyphenols, which delay the lipid oxidation in meat. There is a wide consensus on the capability of vitamin E delaying lipid oxidation on lamb meat, and its feed content should be adjusted to the length of supplementation. A high dietary inclusion of proanthocyanidins, phenolic compounds and terpenes reduce the lipid oxidation in muscle and may improve the shelf life of meat, probably as a result of a combined effect with dietary vitamin E. However, the recommended dietary inclusion levels depend on the polyphenol type and concentration and antioxidant capacity of the feedstuffs, which cannot be compared easily because no routine analytical grading methods are yet available. Unless phenolic compounds content in dietary ingredients/supplements for lambs are reported, no specific association with animal physiology responses may be established.

Multifunctional activity of vitamin E in animal and animal products: A review

Vitamin E is an essential nontoxic fat-soluble micronutrient whose effects on livestock performance and products can be attributed to its antioxidant and nonantioxidant properties. Although it is needed in small quantity in the diet, its roles in livestock production are indispensable as it is required in boosting performance, nutritional qualities, and yield of animal and animal products. The dietary or oral supplementation of vitamin E is essential in reducing lipid oxidation in muscle, egg, and dairy products as well as lowering cholesterol concentrations and improving antioxidant status of livestock. Evidence has shown that bioavailability of vitamin E-enriched animal products could serve as an invaluable nutritional benefit to consumers; especially those in regions of limited resources where vitamin E deficiencies pose a risk that may be detrimental to some cellular activities of the body and on human health. It is therefore important to redirect research on the impact of vitamin E supplementation as antioxidant on livestock performance and animal products.