Influence of oilseeds in combination with vitamin E supplementation in the diet on backfat quality of pigs

Effects of high fat rapeseed press cake on growth, carcass, meat quality and body fat composition of leaner and fatter pig crossbreeds

A 3 ✕ 2 factorial experiment with a total of 60 male castrated pigs, live-weight range 24 to 104 kg, was carried out to test three dietary levels of high fat rapeseed press cake in two crossbreeds differing in carcass lean. The six groups with 10 pigs each representing either crossbreeds of Landrace (LR) ✕ (LR ✕ Large White (LW)) (groups 1, 3 and 5) or Pietrain (Pi) ✕ (LR ✕ LW) (groups 2, 4 and 6) were each offered, ad libitum, diets without rapeseed press cake (groups 1 and 2), or with rapeseed press cake: 75 g/kg diet (groups 3 and 4) or 150 g/kg diet (groups 5 and 6). The press cake produced in a small oil press contained 341 g crude protein per kg dry matter (DM), 181 g ether extract per kg DM and 23·3 mmol glucosinolates per kg DM. Rapeseed press cake, particularly at 150 g (3·2 mmol glucosinolates) per kg diet, lowered food intake and weight gain, though only significantly in the Pi-sired hybrids. There were no effects of the diets on leanness, whereas the 550 g/kg of carcass lean of Pi-sired pigs was significantly higher than the 510 g/kg of LR-sired hybrids. Meat of the Pi-sired crossbreeds showed a lower pH (tendency), higher conductivity, lower impedance and higher drip loss. At 150 g/kg diet rapeseed press cake LR-sired crossbreeds showed the darkest meat and the Pi ✕ LR, LW hybrids the lowest sensory evaluation score. In LR-sired hybrids the rapeseed press cake diets increased the backfat polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to a lower degree (1·3% per 10 g rape oil increase in 1 kg diet) than in Pi-sired hybrids (2·6% per 10 g rapeseed increase in 1 kg diet). Using simple correlation coefficients, the sensory evaluation results were negatively correlated with carcass lean and tended to be so with meat fat PUFA content. Pigs should receive less than 2 mmol glucosinolates per kg diet corresponding to 50 to 100 g double zero rapeseed products per kg diet. Rape oil should be recommended according to the animals lean and fat status, respectively. Fatter pigs may receive a maximum of 40 g, leaner pigs a maximum of 20 g rape oil per kg diet.

Investigating potential roles of extruded flaxseed and α-tocopherol acetate supplementation for production of healthier broiler meat

The present study was conducted to evaluate the role of extruded flaxseed (EFS) and α-tocopherol acetate (ATA) for the enhancement of polyunsaturated fatty acids ratio (PUFA) over saturated fatty acids (SFA) in broiler meat as a source of healthier meat. A total of 96 one-d-old Cobb 550 broilers were randomly divided into 8 treatments with three replicates having 4 birds in each. EFS (extruded at 155°C) at 100, 150 and 200 g/kg alone and in combination with ATA at 200 mg/kg were supplemented through normal feed from the third week onward. During the 6-week growth period, body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and mortality were recorded. At slaughter, weight of liver, heart and kidney and fat content in breast and leg meat were measured. Fatty acid profiles in breast and leg meat were developed to estimate the PUFA to SFA ratio. The results revealed that FI and FCR changed significantly in all groups and BWG increased in all the supplemented groups. The weight of liver, kidney and heart increased more in the supplemented group containing the maximum level of EFS with ATA compared with single supplementation of EFS. The fat content in breast and leg meat decreased as the inclusion level of EFS increased. The level was low in leg meat compared with breast meat. Mortality decreased in all supplemented groups. The PUFA to SFA ratio was significantly higher in leg meat (3.23) compared with breast meat (1.81) and the study therefore indicates that ATA and EFS supplementation could be used to improve the PUFA to SFA ratio in broiler meat.

Extensively reared Iberian pigs versus intensively reared white pigs for the manufacture of liver pâté

Physico-chemical characteristics and quality traits of the raw ingredients (muscle cuadriceps femoris, liver and adipose tissue) and the pâtés made from extensively reared Iberian pigs and intensively reared white pigs, were evaluated. The differences found between muscles, livers and adipose tissues from Iberian and white pigs influenced the characteristics of the pâtés. Compared to pâtés from white pigs, pâtés from Iberian pigs had a higher content of heme iron (27.5 μg/g vs 11.5 μg/g; p<0.05) and lower content of non-heme iron (27.5 μg/g vs 33.7 μg/g; p<0.05). Pâtés from Iberian pigs exhibited a darker colour (L (∗):18.6 vs 15.9, p<0.05) with less redness (a (∗) values: 9.1 vs 11.3; p<0.05) and yellowness (b (∗) values: 13.1 vs 14.8, p<0.05). Thus, pâtés from white pigs had higher values of chroma (18.6 vs 15.9, p<0.05) and smaller values of hue (52.5 vs 55.2, p<0.05) that those from Iberian pigs' pâtés. In fatty acid composition, pâtés from white pigs had higher proportions of SFA (37.9% vs 32.8%, p<0.05) and PUFA (14.4% vs 9.6%, p<0.05) than pâtés from Iberian pigs and lower percentages of oleic (53.4% vs 43.6%, p<0.05) and total of MUFA (57.5% vs 47.6%, p<0.05). Pâtés from Iberian pigs had a lower n-6/n-3 values (13.2 vs 17.2; p<0.05).

Safety assessment of DHA-rich microalgae from Schizochytrium sp. Part V: target animal safety/toxicity study in growing swine

The purpose of this study was to determine the potential toxicity of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-rich microalgae (DRM) from Schizochytrium sp., administered in the diet of growing swine. DRM was administered in the diet to groups of castrated male growing pigs (mixed commercial breeds, Landrace & Large White) reared from early weaned (weighing approximately 20 lbs) to approximately 250-270 lbs. Over the course of the 120 day study, animals were fed ad libitum four DRM treatment diets, each designed to optimize weight gain over the growing cycle, and a control diet. DRM was incorporated into the diet of the first treatment group at a level delivering 2.680 kg DRM per pig over the course of 120 days (a constant, whole-life exposure) equating to 598 g DHA per pig. DRM was incorporated into finisher diets only (administered over the last 42 days of the growing cycle) to treatment groups 2, 3, and 4 delivering 1.169, 3.391, and 5.746 kg DRM per pig (261, 756, and 1281 g DHA per pig). These levels represent approximately 1, 3, and 5 times the anticipated commercial dose and were delivered in a feeding strategy designed to mimic commercial use. Vitamin E was added to all diet groups to provide supplementary dietary antioxidant given the high content of polyunsaturated fat in DRM. There were no statistically significant treatment-related effects in clinical observations, body weights, food consumption, mortality, hematologic values, gross necropsy findings, organ weights or histopathology. The only DRM treatment-related changes were higher weight gain and feed conversion efficiency, anticipated results based on the increased fat content in the experimental DRM treatments. This study demonstrates that administration of DRM (at up to five times the anticipated commercial dose) did not produce any treatment-related adverse effects in commercial strains of swine.

Effect of dietary mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids on the fatty acid composition of pigs' adipose tissues

In two experiments with growing-finishing pigs six different dietary fats were added to a conventional diet (control--C) to study the effects of dietary monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on the fatty acid composition of backfat and kidney fat at similar amounts of double bonds in feed (Exp. 1:7% pork fat--PF, 4.95% olive oil--OO, 3.17% soybean oil--SO) or a constant amount of 5% of processed fats (Exp. 2: partially hydrogenated fat--SAT, fractionated pork fats: olein--OLE, stearin--STE). Compared with the control, PUFA were only slightly increased in backfat of pigs fed PF, OLE, STE or OO, although dietary PUFA intake was up to 70% higher. With SO PUFA were significantly increased in adipose tissues, predominantly at the expense of MUFA. Consequently, a non-linear relationship was found between PUFA intake and proportion in backfat. MUFA were incorporated at the expense of SFA, therefore, adipose tissues of OO fed animals were lowest in SFA. Despite comparable amounts of double bonds in feed (Exp. 1), the degree of unsaturation measured as fat score (sum of double bonds) was in the order SO > OO > PF > C. In contrast, the proportion of SFA was C > PF = SO > OO. Regarding the decisive role of SFA for fat consistency it may be concluded that MUFA should also be considered in feeding recommendations for pigs. Furthermore, in case of a high dietary supply of MUFA, a simple index of double bonds might not be sufficiently conclusive to judge pig fat quality.