Influence of different fats in pig feed on fatty acid composition of phospholipids and physical meat quality characteristics

Abstract

Two feeding experiments (i, ii) were conducted to investigate the influence of different dietary fats on the fatty acid (FA) composition of phospholipids as well as meat quality in pigs. In each experiment 12�4 siblings of Swiss Landrace or Large White breed were allocated to one of four feeding treatments according to sex, breed, and litter and fattened from about 25 to 105 kg liveweight. Pigs were fed a control diet (barley, wheat, soybean meal) or the control diet supplemented with 7% pork fat, 4.95% olive oil or 3.17% soybean oil (i) or 5% of olein or stearin fraction of pork fat or hydrogenated fat (ii). The dietary FA composition was reflected in the FA composition of phospholipids in M. long. dorsi and triceps brachii. However, the unsaturated to saturated ratio was not affected by the dietary intake of polyunsaturated FAs and was only slightly increased by the olive oil supplementation. Trans FAs including conjugated linoleic acid were incorporated into phospholipids only to a small extent. The dietary altered fatty acid composition of phospholipids did not cause any effect on pH, cooking loss, texture, or colour of pork, but meat quality as well as the proportion of saturated FA, arachidonic acid, and n-3 fatty acids were significantly influenced by genetic effects.