Thiamine Content of Raw and Cooked Pork Tissues from Pigs of Known Dietary History1

Abstract

OF THE many references in the literature (Ensminger et al., 1944; Miller et al., 1943; Booher, Hartzler and Hewston, 1942; Hughes, 1942; Pyke, 1940; Waisman and Elvejhem, 194I ) which indicate that pork muscle is an excellent source of thiamine, only four give information on the feed the pigs had received. Hughes (1941) reported that the pig is unable to synthesize thiamine and that the amount of this vitamin in pork muscle is related to the amount of thiamine ingested. These findings have been corroborated by Ensminger et al. (1944) , and by Miller et al. (1943), who fed rations containing controlled amounts of thiamine at different levels. Pyke (1940), who tested the thiamine content of various pig muscles using the thiochrome method, found the muscle from “swill-fed” pigs to contain less thiamine than muscle from pigs fed “a normal commercial meal.” He concluded that “a good pig ration” supplies all the thiamine that the animal is capable of storing.