Fatty acid composition and tocopherol content of muscle in pigs fed organic and conventional feed with different n6/n3 ratios, respectively

Selected nutrients determining the quality of different cuts of organic and conventional pork

Organic meat products are gaining consumer interest worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of organic and conventional meat origin on nutritional determinants of the following pork meat cuts: loin, ham, and shoulder. Nutritional value of meat was based on selected indicators such as proximate composition, the concentration of cholesterol, vitamin E content and minerals and trace elements such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, iron, and zinc, and the composition of fatty acids. The results of this study demonstrated that higher contents of protein and selected mineral compounds, as well as lower vitamin E concentration and different fatty acids (i.e., C12:0, C17:0, C17:1 n-7, C18:3 n-6, C24:0 and total n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)) distinguish organic pork meat cuts from the conventional counterparts. The organically meat parts, especially the shoulder, were identified as a better source of copper, calcium, iron and zinc, while organic ham and loin had more potassium. On the other hand, organic hams were shown to have lower content of vitamin E in comparison to their conventional equivalents present. Also, in organic shoulders showed a higher n-6/n-3 ratio compared to meat of conventional origin.

Elemental composition of pork meat from conventional and animal welfare farms by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and their authentication via multivariate chemometric analysis

The demand of consumers from around the world for natural, nutritional and palatable pork meat is increasing with time. This study analyzed macro (Ca, K, Mg, Na, P), micro (Fe, Zn, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Se, Sr, Cs), trace (Li, Be, V, Co, Ga, Ba, U), and toxic trace (As, Cd, TI, and Pb) elements of pork meat from conventional and animal welfare farms in South Korea. Among the elements analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission, and mass spectrometric (ICP-OES, ICP-MS) techniques, K, Fe, Mn, and Ni content were higher in animal welfare pork meat. The trace and toxic trace elements content were lower than the standard values. The principal component and linear discriminant analyses (PCA, LDA) explained the highest variance (99.82%, 99.00%) of the group based on toxic elements. These findings can thus be used to evaluate animal welfare and conventional farms pork meat quality in South Korea as well as worldwide.

Effect of dietary sources of n-3 fatty acids on pig performance and technological, nutritional and sensory qualities of pork

In France, animal products (dairy products, meat and eggs) are the main source of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the human diet; however, many individuals do not consume enough of this nutrient. The objective of this study was to increase n-3 PUFA precursor and derivative contents in tissues and test how they influence technological and sensory qualities of meat without negatively affecting growth performances of pigs. A total of 60 male pigs [(Large White×Landrace)×Pietrain] were assigned according to their initial liveweight (50.7±2.7 kg) to five experimental groups corresponding to five different diets that they received from 14 to 22 weeks of age. Dietary lipid supplements were composed of soybean and palm oil (SP), dehulled and extruded linseed (EL-), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-rich microalgae (MAG) or a mixture of linseed and microalgae at 75%/25% (3EL-/MAG) and 50%/50% (EL-/MAG), respectively. Diet did not influence growth performances of pigs or the technological quality of the meat. The n-3 PUFA content in the longissimus dorsi muscle, subcutaneous backfat (SCB) and liver increased with a dietary supply of linseed and microalgae and corresponded to circulating fatty acids (FA). The amount of malondialdehyde, representative of FA lipid peroxidation measured in SCB, increased significantly with the supply of microalgae, meaning that PUFA from the microalgae included in the diet increased the meat's susceptibility to oxidation. The MAG diet scored highest for 'abnormal' flavor, similar to that of fish or organ meat, but the n-3 PUFA-rich diet had no effect on other sensory characteristics. Results of this study indicate benefits of enriching animal feed with n-3 PUFA, but the inclusion of long-chain n-3 PUFA such as DHA must be limited to avoid oxidation susceptibility and development of an off-odor.

Significance of Increasing n-3 PUFA Content in Pork on Human Health

Evidence for the health-promoting effects of food rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) is reviewed. Pork is an important meat source for humans. According to a report by the US Department of Agriculture ( http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics ), the pork consumption worldwide in 2011 was about 79.3 million tons, much higher than that of beef (48.2 million tons). Pork also contains high levels of unsaturated fatty acids relative to ruminant meats (Enser, M., Hallett, K., Hewett, B., Fursey, G. A. J. and Wood, J. D. (1996) . Fatty acid content and composition of English beef, lamb, and pork at retail. Meat Sci. 44:443-458). The available literature indicates that the levels of eicosatetraenoic and docosahexaenoic in pork may be increased by fish-derived or linseed products, the extent of which being dependent on the nature of the supplementation. Transgenic pigs and plants show promise with high content of n-3 PUFA and low ratio of n-6/n-3 fatty acids in their tissues. The approaches mentioned for decreasing n-6/n-3 ratios have both advantages and disadvantages. Selected articles are critically reviewed and summarized.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes as a potential tool to differentiate pork from organic and conventional systems

BACKGROUND

Isotopic discrimination, dietary composition and feeding regime determine the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of animals. Accordingly, measurement of the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen can be a potential method to identify patterns of pork production.

RESULTS

In the current study, we investigated the carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratio in pork from organic and conventional systems. The average carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for various organic tissues, including hair, blood and defatted meat, were higher than those of conventionally raised ones. The discriminant analysis results based on the combination of carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios in defatted meat reached a 100% correct classification. Furthermore, the variation in carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of retail organic and conventional pork has been studied over 1 year. The results suggested that organic pork had a higher δ(13) C value than that of the conventional pork in all but three fortnights. Grouping of the δ(15) N data showed that the δ(15) N value in organic pork was higher than that of the conventional one throughout the whole year.

CONCLUSION

The method established in the present study provides a potential detection that can be highly valuable to prevent fraudulent labelling of organic pork. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Fatty acid composition of Celta pig breed as influenced by sex and location of fat in the carcass

BACKGROUND

The influence of sex and location of fat in the carcass on the fatty acid profile of Celta pigs was studied. Twenty pigs (10 castrated males and 10 females) from the Carballina line were used.

RESULTS

The fatty acids composition was predominated by monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA; approximately 48% of total methyl esters), followed by saturated fatty acids (SFA; approximately 40% of total methyl esters) and, finally, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; approximately 12% of total methyl esters). The sex and location of fat in the carcass showed significant differences in PUFA and SFA content while both factors were not significantly different with respect to MUFA content. Linoleic, linolenic, eicosatrienoic and arachidonic fatty acids showed the largest difference among the three locations (intramuscular, subcutaneous ventral and subcutaneous dorsal) of the fat in the carcass.

CONCLUSION

The fatty acid profile that we observed in the fat of the Celta pigs does not differ greatly from those described by other authors in other autochthonous pig breeds. Principal component analysis offered a good separation of the mean samples according to the sex and location of fat of the pigs.

Effects of caponisation on lipid and fatty acid composition of intramuscular and abdominal fat of medium-growth broilers

1. Capons and intact male broilers were used to investigate the effects of caponisation on intramuscular fat and abdominal adipose tissue lipid content and fatty acid profile. 2. Capons had significantly higher total lipid content (P<0·05). 3. Neutral lipids were the major fractions in intramuscular and abdominal fat but their proportions differed significantly among groups and tissues (P<0·05). 4. The predominant saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in all samples were C16:0, C16:1 ω-9, C18:0, C18:1 ω-9, C18:1 ω-7, C18:2 ω-6 and C20:4 ω-6. 5. Caponisation resulted in a significant ω-6/ω-3, PUFA and PUFA/SFA ratio reduction as well as a significant increase in atherogenic and thrombogenic indices increase in intramuscular fat (P<0·05) without affecting their appropriate value for a healthy diet.

The effect of diets supplemented with fish broth and fish oil on the health of weaners

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of fish-based feed materials, as a source of readily available protein contained in fish broth and essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) found in fish oil, on the health of piglets and rearing results. The experiment was conducted on a commercial pig fattening farm. The study involved a total of 80 weaners with an approximate body weight of 15 kg. The experiment was carried out over a period of 40 days. Feed samples were subjected to laboratory analyses. Blood samples were collected from experimental group animals to determine serum biochemical and immunological parameters. The body weight gains of weaners, mortality rates and average feed intake per animal were calculated for the entire experimental period. The addition of fish broth and fish oil significantly improved the n3:n6 fatty acid ratio in diets. The presence of EPA and DHA in the experimental diet could have had a positive health effect on piglets, comparable with that exerted by therapeutic doses of zinc often administered to pigs of this age group. During the experiment, feed conversion ratio (FCR) gain was considerably reduced in the experimental group, with similar daily gains in the control and experimental group.

Significance of coprophagy for the fatty acid profile in body tissues of rabbits fed different diets

Four groups of eight New Zealand hybrid rabbits were fattened with ad libitum access to the following pelleted experimental diets: ryegrass meal or alfalfa meal fed either alone or with oats meal in a ratio of 1:1. After 25 weeks they were slaughtered and dissected. Fatty acid (FA) profiles of caecotrophs (re-ingested fermentation products of the caecum), perirenal adipose tissue and intramuscular fat in the Musculus quadriceps were determined. With high proportions of branched-chain FA (BFA) and trans FA, and increased proportions of saturated FA relative to the diets, the caecotroph FA profile showed a clear fingerprint of anaerobe microbial lipid metabolism including biohydrogenation. By contrast, the FA profiles of adipose and lean tissue comprised high proportions of polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), whilst BFA and trans FA occurred in much lower proportions compared to the caecotrophs. Thus, coprophagy did not substantially modify the FA composition of the tissues investigated. Use of forage-only diets, compared to the oats supplemented diets, led to extraordinary high proportions of n-3 PUFA (including 18:3 and long-chain n-3) in the fat of adipose (21.3 vs. 6.7%) and lean tissue (15.4 vs. 5.7%). The forage type diet (grass vs. alfalfa) had smaller effects on the FA profiles. Indications of diet effects on endogenous desaturation, chain elongation and differential distribution of functional FA between the two tissues investigated were found.

A sensory description of boar taint and the effects of crude and dried chicory roots (Cichorium intybus L.) and inulin feeding in male and female pork

Sensory profiling studies were carried out to evaluate the effects of chicory root (Cichorium intybus L.) and inulin bioactive feeding with respect to reducing the 'off-flavour' boar taint in intact male and female pork Longissimus dorsi and Psoas major. Feeding treatments significantly reduced perceived sensory boar taint in the cooked pork meat of intact males in both muscles. There were also indications that crude chicory was also effective in taint descriptor reduction in female pork, however not to the same systematic level as in male animals. Chemical measurements for skatole and androstenone were highly predictive of specific sensory descriptors of boar taint reduction. Feeding of crude, dried chicory and inulin were also determined not to impart negative sensory characteristics upon boar taint reduction. Chicory feeding therefore must be considered to have the potential for utilisation as part of a strategy for boar taint reduction in intact male pork.

Development of solid-phase extraction and methylation procedures to analyse free fatty acids in lipid-rich seeds

In order to develop a sensitive and reliable method for FFA quantification in lipid matrices of seeds, two SPE procedures employed in meat and dairy chemistry were compared using a 100/1 mixture of triolein/heptadecanoic acid. The overall efficiency of the SPE procedure retained was satisfactory since it allowed removal of 99.8% of triacylglycerols (TAG) and recovery of 99.2% of FFA as quantified by gas chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). However, the low amount of TAG eluted in the FFA fraction represented a non-negligible percentage (17%) of FAME and the procedure thus required further improvement. TAG pollution was successively decreased to 12%, 8% and finally 1.5% by: i) modifying the volume of elution of TAG; ii) removing the saponification step initially performed according to the standard FAME procedure; and iii) reducing the duration of the BF(3)-catalyzed methylation reaction to 1 min. The new SPE/methylation procedure described here was then compared to the most widely used method for FFA measurement in plants which is based on thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Both procedures were applied to coffee seeds stored for 0-18 months at 15 degrees C under 62% relative humidity and provided consistent results. A very clear negative correlation was observed between the loss of seed viability and the accumulation of FFA in seeds during the course of storage independent of the method employed for FFA quantification. However, we demonstrated that the TLC/on-silica methylation procedure underestimates FFA contents in comparison with the new SPE/methylation procedure because of a selective loss of unsaturated FA.

Assessment of the antioxidative potential of dietary supplementation with α-tocopherol in low-nitrite salami-type sausages

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary α-tocopherol supplementation to pigs on the lipid stability of nitrite-reduced salami-type sausages (custom-produced for this study). Fourteen crossbred pigs were divided into two equal groups. The control group (CG) was fed a basal diet containing 34ppm α-tocopherol, and the experimental group (EG), a diet supplemented with 364ppm α-tocopherol, both for 35 days. After slaughter, salami-type sausages were produced with the addition of different nitrite levels in the curing salt (100, 50, 25 and 0ppm), ripened for four weeks, sliced, and packaged under a protective atmosphere (80 parts N(2) to 20 parts CO(2)). The packed products were stored for eight weeks under simulation of the usual conditions in self-service shelves with permanent lighting (9°C, 200 lux). The sausages were regularly assessed for their oxidative status (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, fatty acid pattern) and the amount of α-tocopherol, and by sensory evaluation. In the EG sausages, α-tocopherol concentrations were twice as high and TBARS were lower than in the CG sausages. The α-tocopherol in EG prevented the loss of unsaturated fatty acids during storage. Sausages of EG containing 100ppm nitrite had the longest sensory stability. However, the biochemical parameters did not indicate that nitrite had any effect on the antioxidative potential of the sausages.