Meat Quality In Pigs Research Articles

Profiles of muscular amino acids, fatty acids, and metabolites in Shaziling pigs of different ages and relation to meat quality.

Pork meat is closely related to physicochemical alterations during growth and development, resulting in differences in nutritional value and meat flavor. This study aimed to evaluate the composition of amino acids, fatty acids, and metabolic profiles in the longissimus thoracis muscle (LM) of Shaziling pigs aged 30, 90, 150, 210, and 300 days. The results showed that the predominant fatty acids identified in the LM of Shaziling pigs were C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1n9c, and C18:2n6c. An opposite correlation was observed for C18:2n6c and n6/n3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (P<0.05). Alanine, aspartate, glutamate, D-glutamine, and D-glutamate metabolism were the main metabolic pathways for the Shaziling pig meat flavor (P<0.05). Moreover, the correlation coefficients revealed that the contents of anserine, C16:0, C16:1, and C18:1n9c were positively correlated with intramuscular fat and/or pH24h and were negatively correlated with the values of L* (lightness) and b* (yellowness) (P<0.05). In conclusion, age greatly affected the meat quality of Shaziling pigs, and the contents of muscular anserine, C16:0, C16:1, and C18:1n9c might be promising indicators for better meat quality.

Effects of dietary addition of wormwood on growth performance, blood characteristics and meat quality in growing-fattening pigs

This study investigated the effects of the dietary addition of wormwood (Artemisia montana Pampan) on growth performance, blood characteristics, carcass traits, and meat quality in growing-fattening pigs. One hundred eighty crossed pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc), weighing approximately 70 kg, were divided into four groups of 15 head (eight barrows and seven gilts) per pen, and the experiment was replicated thrice. The basal diet (C) was supplemented with 0.5% (T1), 1.0% (T2), and 1.5% (T3) of dried powdered wormwood, and the pigs were fed an experimental diet for six weeks. The average daily weight gain and feed efficiency were significantly higher (P &amp;lt; 0.05) in treatments than in C. On the contrary, the total cholesterol concentration was significantly lower (P &amp;lt; 0.05) in treatments than in C. Additionally, the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration was significantly higher (P &amp;lt; 0.05), and the carcass grade was better (P &amp;lt; 0.05) in the treatments than in C. The ether extract content of the longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle was lower (P &amp;lt; 0.05) in T2 and T3 than that in C. In contrast, the unsaturated fatty acid (USFA) composition in LD muscle was higher (P &amp;lt; 0.05) in the treatments than in C. Additionally, the marbling and flavour of cooked meat were better (P &amp;lt; 0.05) in the treatments than in C. The dietary addition of wormwood increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) lightness and yellowness of the surface meat colour and decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) juiciness of the LD sensory evaluation. Therefore, the dietary addition of wormwood improved growth performance, feed efficiency, carcass grade, USFA composition, and oxidation of protein and lipids in the LD muscle of growing-fattening pigs.

Metabolomics Characterize the Differential Metabolic Markers between Bama Xiang Pig and Debao Pig to Identify Pork.

The Bama Xiang pig (BM) is a unique pig species in Guangxi Province, China. Compared to other breeds of domestic pig, such as the Debao pig (DB), it is smaller in size, better in meat quality, resistant to rough feeding and strong in stress resistance. These unique advantages of Bama Xiang pigs make them of great edible value and scientific research value. However, the differences in muscle metabolites between Bama Xiang pigs (BM) and Debao pigs (DB) are largely unexplored. Here, we identified 214 differential metabolites between these two pig breeds by LC-MS. Forty-one such metabolites are enriched into metabolic pathways, and these metabolites correspond to 11 metabolic pathways with significant differences. In Bama pigs, the abundance of various metabolites such as creatine, citric acid, L-valine and hypoxanthine is significantly higher than in Debao pigs, while the abundance of other metabolites, such as carnosine, is significantly lower. Among these, we propose six differential metabolites: L-proline, citric acid, ribose 1-phosphate, L-valine, creatine, and L-arginine, as well as four potential differential metabolites (without the KEGG pathway), alanyl-histidine, inosine 2'-phosphate, oleoylcarnitine, and histidinyl hydroxyproline, as features for evaluating the meat quality of Bama pigs and for differentiating pork from Bama pigs and Debao pigs. This study provides a proof-of-concept example of distinguishing pork from different pig breeds at the metabolite level and sheds light on elucidating the biological processes underlying meat quality differences. Our pork metabolites data are also of great value to the genomics breeding community in meat quality improvement.

Low- and high-protein diets supplemented up to the fourth limiting amino acid for genetic lines of grower-finisher pigs

The protein contents in diets for grower-finisher pigs reflect directly on the pig industry, also allowing to verify the responses of modern genotypes according to the protein feeding regimen. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess low- and high-protein diets and 2 genetic lines on growth performance, plasma urea concentration (PUC), apparent digestible energy and nutrient digestibility, N balance, carcass traits and meat quality in grower-finisher pigs. In Exp. I, a total of 120 pigs (31.5 ± 5.2 kg BW) were assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments, 2 genetic lines (LI7600 and AGPIC 337) and 2 protein diets (low-protein, LP, and high-protein, HP), with 10 replicate pens per treatment and 3 pigs per pen in a randomized block design. In Exp. II, 24 entire male pigs (27.4 ± 2.9 kg BW) housed individually in metabolic cages were used in the same design as Exp. I with 6 replicates though. In Exp. I, pigs fed HP diet showed (P ≤ 0.05) greater ADG and ADFI than those fed LP diet. However, gain to feed ratio was lower (P < 0.05) in pigs fed LP diet during grower I, finisher II, and total period. Plasma urea concentration was lower (P < 0.05) in pigs fed LP diet during grower I and II and finisher I. Pigs fed HP diet had greater (P < 0.01) N intake, N absorbed, N retained, total N excreted and urine N than those fed LP diet. Fecal N was greater in AGPIC 337 pigs than in LI7600 pigs (P = 0.009). Pigs fed HP diet had greater (P ≤ 0.05) cold carcass weight, lean meat, and initial pH in L. dorsi when compared to pigs fed LP diet. However, meat color, marbling degree, drip loss, and cooking loss were lower (P ≤ 0.05) in pigs fed HP diet. LI7600 pigs showed greater (P ≤ 0.05) backfat thickness than AGPIC 337 pigs. However, lower lean meat and a* were observed (P ≤ 0.05) in LI7600 pigs. In Exp. II, LI7600 pigs showed greater (P = 0.048) ADC of gross energy and digestible energy than AGPIC 337 pigs. In conclusion, pigs fed HP diet showed optimal growth performance, meat attributes, and apparent digestibility of CP. However, HP diet did not reduce the N excretion with changes in PUC, and low CP diet without Val-and Ile-supplementation can compromise pig production performance. Furthermore, AGPIC 337 pigs showed optimal results on meat attributes compared with LI7600 pigs, but lower apparent energy digestibility.

Different feeding patterns affect meat quality of Tibetan pigs associated with intestinal microbiota alterations.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different feeding patterns on meat quality, gut microbiota and its metabolites of Tibetan pigs. Tibetan pigs with similar body weight were fed the high energy diets (HEP, 20 pigs) and the regular diets (RFP, 20 pigs), and free-ranging Tibetan pigs (FRP, 20 pigs) were selected as the reference. After 6 weeks of experiment, meat quality indexes of semitendinosus muscle (SM) and cecal microbiota were measured. The results of meat quality demonstrated that the shear force of pig SM in FRP group was higher than that in HEP and RFP groups (p < 0.001); the pH-value of SM in HEP pigs was higher at 45 min (p < 0.05) and lower at 24 h (p < 0.01) after slaughter than that in FRP and RFP groups; the SM lightness (L* value) of FRP pigs increased compared with RFP and HEP groups (p < 0.001), while the SM redness (a* value) of FRP pigs was higher than that of RFP group (p < 0.05). The free fatty acid (FA) profile exhibited that the total FAs and unsaturated FAs of pig SM in HEP and RFP groups were higher than those in FRP group (p < 0.05); the RFP pigs had more reasonable FA composition with higher n-3 polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs) and lower n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio than HEP pigs (p < 0.05). Based on that, we observed that Tibetan pigs fed high energy diets (HEP) had lower microbial α-diversity in cecum (p < 0.05), and distinct feeding patterns exhibited a different microbial cluster. Simultaneously, the short-chain FA levels in cecum of FRP and RFP pigs were higher compared with HEP pigs (p < 0.05). A total of 11 genera related to muscle lipid metabolism or meat quality, including Alistipes, Anaerovibrio, Acetitomaculun, etc., were identified under different feeding patterns (p < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis demonstrated that alterations of free FAs in SM were affected by the genera Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group, Prevotellaceae UCG-003 and Christensenellaceae_R-7_group (p < 0.05). Taken together, distinct feeding patterns affected meat quality of Tibetan pigs related to gut microbiota alterations.

Fermented red ginseng and red ginseng extract diet supplementation on the effect of growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and meat quality of growing-fattening pigs

Fermented red ginseng and red ginseng extract diet supplementation on the effect of growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and meat quality of growing-fattening pigs

The effect of dietary halloysite supplementation on the performance and meat quality of pigs and some air indices in piggery

Halloysite, a clay mineral of the kaolin, has specific properties, characteristic for the conditions in which it was formed. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of halloysite from the Dunino deposit in a complete diet for pigs on daily body weight gain (BWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), blood parameters, chemical composition of meat and chosen environment indices in the piggery. The trial was conducted on 144 piglets from weaning (d 29) to 85th day of life, then on 40 porkers divided into two groups. Animals were fed diets without (group C) or with halloysite (group E; 1.5% until d 128, then 1.0%). Pigs from group E were characterized by a lower number of days with diarrhea. The average BWG in E group was 44 g higher than in group C (P < 0.01). In turn, during the fattening period, the difference in BWG between groups was 60 g in favor of E (P < 0.05) and average FCR in group E was 4.9% lower compared to group C (P < 0.05). At the end of the study, the pigs from group E had 6.9% higher final body weight (P < 0.01). During both the morning and evening measurements, ammonia concentration in the air was lower by 16.3% and 23.8%, respectively. The use of halloysite enabled improvement of pig fattening efficiency, while reducing the costs of pork production and the negative effect of ammonia on the animals' welfare and environment.

Associations of Polymorphisms in Leptin and Leptin Receptor Genes with Meat Quality in Pigs of the Ukrainian Large White Breed

Associations of Polymorphisms in Leptin and Leptin Receptor Genes with Meat Quality in Pigs of the Ukrainian Large White Breed

Genome-Wide Association Studies for Flesh Color and Intramuscular Fat in (Duroc × Landrace × Large White) Crossbred Commercial Pigs.

The intuitive impression of pork is extremely important in terms of whether consumers are enthusiastic about purchasing it. Flesh color and intramuscular fat (IMF) are indispensable indicators in meat quality assessment. In this study, we determined the flesh color and intramuscular fat at 45 min and 12 h after slaughter (45 mFC, 45 mIMF, 12 hFC, and 12 hIMF) of 1518 commercial Duroc × Landrace × Large White (DLY) pigs. We performed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genome-wide association study (GWAS) analysis with 28,066 SNPs. This experiment found that the correlation between 45 mFC and 12 hFC was 0.343. The correlation between 45 mIMF and 12 hIMF was 0.238. The heritability of the traits 45 mFC, 12 hFC, 45 mIMF, and 12 hIMF was 0.112, 0.217, 0.139, and 0.178, respectively, and we identified seven SNPs for flesh color and three SNPs for IMF. Finally, several candidate genes regulating these four traits were identified. Three candidate genes related to flesh color were provided: SNCAIP and PRR16 on SSC2, ST3GAL4 on SSC5, and GALR1 on SSC1. A total of three candidate genes related to intramuscular fat were found, including ABLIM3 on SSC2, DPH5 on SSC4, and DOCK10 on SSC15. Furthermore, GO and KEGG analysis revealed that these genes are involved in the regulation of apoptosis and are implicated in functions such as pigmentation and skeletal muscle metabolism. This study applied GWAS to analyze the scoring results of flesh color and IMF in different time periods, and it further revealed the genetic structure of flesh color and IMF traits, which may provide important genetic loci for the subsequent improvement of pig meat quality traits.

Effects of dietary lysine levels on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, serum metabolites, and carcase and meat quality of Yacha pigs

The objective was to evaluate the effect of different standardised ileal digestible lysine (SID-Lys) levels on performance, nutrient digestibility, serum metabolites, and carcase and meat traits of Yacha pigs. A total of 50 pigs were blocked by body weight and randomly assigned to five dietary treatments with six replicate pens (2 pigs/pen) per treatment using a randomised complete block design. Five diets in mash form were formulated to contain SID-Lys at 0.57%, 0.62%, 0.67%, 0.72%, 0.77% of diet in phase 1 (15 ∼ 30 kg), at 0.40%, 0.48%, 0.56%, 0.64%, 0.72% of diet in phase 2 (30 ∼ 50 kg), and at 0.30%, 0.39%, 0.48%, 0.57%, 0.66% of diet in phase 3 (50 ∼ 90 kg), respectively. The results showed that the average daily gain and gain to feed ratio increased with increasing dietary Lys levels in phases 1 and 2 (p ≤ 0.05). Increasing dietary Lys levels increased linearly (p ≤ 0.05) apparent total-tract digestibility of dry matter, gross energy, crude protein, and phosphorus in Phase 3 and also increased (p ≤ 0.05) concentration of serum glucose and tended to increase (p < 0.10) serum total protein in Phase 2. Compared with the Lys deficiently treatment, the adequate Lys treatment had increased carcase weight, lean meat percentage, and shear force and decreased cooking loss (p ≤ 0.05). Moreover, the optimal dietary SID-Lys levels preliminarily determined for 15 ∼ 30 kg, 30 ∼ 50 kg, and 50 ∼ 90 kg Yacha pigs were 0.760%, 0.628%, and 0.553% of the diet, respectively. HIGHLIGHTS Dietary appropriate SID-Lys levels can improve performance and feed utilisation in Yacha pigs. Dietary appropriate SID-Lys levels contributed to enhancing carcase lean meat yield of Yacha pigs.

"King of the forage"-Alfalfa supplementation improves growth, reproductive performance, health condition and meat quality of pigs.

As one kind of high-quality feed with rich nutrients, including high quality protein and amino acids, dietary fiber, enriched vitamins and mineral elements and bioactive molecules, alfalfa has been widely used in the production of ruminant livestock. As the understanding of alfalfa becomes more and more comprehensive, it is found that the high-quality nutrients in alfalfa could have positive effects on pigs. An increasing number of researches have shown that supplementing dietary alfalfa to the diet of gestating sows reduced constipation, alleviated abnormal behavior, improved satiety and reproductive performance; supplementing dietary alfalfa to the diet of piglets improved growth performance and intestinal barrier function, reduced intestinal inflammatory response and diarrhea; supplementing dietary alfalfa to the diet of growing-fattening pigs improved production performance and pork quality. Moreover, the mechanisms by which various nutrients of alfalfa exert their beneficial effects on pigs mainly including dietary fiber stimulating intestinal peristalsis, enhancing the activity of digestive enzymes, and promoting the colonization of beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract through fermentation in the intestine, producing short-chain fatty acids and thus improving intestinal health; high quality protein and amino acids are beneficial to improve animal health condition; rich vitamins and mineral elements play an important role in various physiological functions and growth and development of the body; and bioactive molecules can improve the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory level. Therefore, alfalfa could be used as pig feed ingredient to alleviate various problems in the pig industry and to improve pig production performance. In this review, we detail the current application of alfalfa in pigs and discuss the potential mechanisms involved in how alfalfa improves growth and reproductive performance, pork quality, and intestinal health of the animals, thus laying the foundation for the increased application of high-quality forage in pig production.

Heritability estimates and predictive ability for pig meat quality traits using identity-by-state and identity-by-descent relationships in an F2 population.

Genomic relationships can be computed with dense genome-wide genotypes through different methods, either based on identity-by-state (IBS) or identity-by-descent (IBD). The latter has been shown to increase the accuracy of both estimated relationships and predicted breeding values. However, it is not clear whether an IBD approach would achieve greater heritability ( ) and predictive ability ( ) than its IBS counterpart for data with low-depth pedigrees. Here, we compare both approaches in terms of the estimated of and , using data on meat quality and carcass traits recorded in experimental crossbred pigs, with a pedigree constrained to only three generations. Three animal models were fitted which differed on the relationship matrix: an IBS model ( ), an IBD (defined within the known pedigree) model ( ), and a pedigree model ( ). In 9 of 20 traits, the range of increase for the estimates of and was 1.2-2.9 times greater with and models than with . Whereas for all traits, both parameters were similar between genomic models. The of the genomic models was higher compared to . A scarce increment in was found with when compared to , most likely due to the former recovering sizeable relationships among founder F0 animals.

The Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Mulberry Leaf Powder on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits and Meat Quality of Tibetan Pigs.

Simple SummaryIn recent years, consumers have been paying more and more attention to the flavor and texture of pork, and, therefore, the Chinese indigenous pig breeds, like Tibetan pigs, are valued for good meat quality. Herein, we investigated whether dietary mulberry leaf powder could further improve the meat quality of Tibetan pigs. Our results indicated improved meat quality in Tibetan pigs who consumed mulberry leaf powder, which might be the consequence of enhanced antioxidant activity and altered muscle fiber type and morphology.This research was conducted to study the effects of dietary inclusion of mulberry leaf powder (MLP) on growth performance, meat quality, antioxidant activity, and carcass traits of Tibetan pigs. Eighteen Tibetan pigs (33.8 ± 1.1 kg) were assigned to two treatment groups randomly and received either the control diet (CON) or a basal diet containing 8% MLP (MLP) for two months. After the two-month feeding trial, the MLP group showed lower backfat thickness while a higher lean percentage. Compared with CON pigs, MLP pigs had higher serum CAT activity. In addition, dietary MLP supplementation significantly decreased the muscle shear force. Muscle fiber morphology analysis showed that MLP pigs had larger muscle fiber density while smaller muscle fiber cross-sectional area. Up-regulated gene expression of myosin heavy chain (MyHC)IIa was also observed in MLP pigs. These results indicate that the enhanced antioxidant activity and altered muscle fiber type and morphology appeared to contribute to the improvement of meat quality in Tibetan pigs fed diets containing MLP.

Effect of guanidine acetic acid on meat quality, muscle amino acids, and fatty acids in Tibetan pigs.

This study investigated the effects of guanidine acetic acid (GAA) supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality in Tibetan pigs. A total of 18 male Tibetan pigs (21.35 ± 0.99 kg) were randomly assigned to the control (basal diet) and GAA (basal diet + 800 mg/kg GAA) groups for 125 days. Growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality in pigs, and the chemical composition of Longissimus thoracis (LT) were not altered by GAA. In LT, compared to the control group, dietary GAA increased the superoxide dismutase activity, transcripts of stearoyl CoA desaturase (SCD) and fatty acid synthase (FAS), and contents of glutamate, glutamine, C24:0, C20:3n-6, C20:4n-6, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (P < 0.05), but it decreased the malondialdehyde content (P < 0.001). In back fat, dietary GAA reduced the transcript of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and the contents of C10:0, C12:0, C14:0, and C16:0 (P < 0.05), whereas it increased the contents of C22:0, C20:1, C22:1, C24:1, C20:2, C20:3n-3, and C22:2 (P < 0.05). These findings will provide a basis for high-quality Tibetan pork production.

PSIII-19 Growth Performance, Carcass Traits, and Meat Quality of Pigs from Divergent Groups for Pork Loin Tenderness

Abstract Genetic selection for improved feed efficiency and lean growth in pigs has resulted in reduced intramuscular fat content. The aim of this study was to evaluate growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality in genetically lean immunocastrated pigs grouped based on divergent Warner-Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) values. The WBSF values of the longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle were obtained from a previous trial evaluating 4 diets, 6 replicates per diet, and 3 pigs per pen, summing up to 72 Large White immunocastrated male pigs. Pigs (initial BW = 28.44 ± 2.95 kg) were fed diets containing either 1.5% soybean oil (CON) or 3% soybean oil (SO), canola oil (CO), or fish oil (FO) in a 98-d study. The original dataset was used to segregate pigs into 2 treatments: high (5.4 to 4.3 kg) and low (3.8 to 2.8 kg) WBSF. The SO diet did not show extreme values for WBSF and was not included in the resulting dataset, which comprised 2 treatments (high- and low-WBSF), 3 blocks (CON, CO, and FO), and 6 replicates per treatment (12 experimental units). No significant differences were observed for growth performance between WBSF groups. When compared with low-WBSF pigs, high-WBSF pigs tended to have decreased (P = 0.07) backfat thickness and intramuscular fat content in the LL and greater (P = 0.09) carcass lean percentage and cooking losses. Oleic acid concentration was less (P = 0.05) in the LL intramuscular fat of high- than low-WBSF pigs. There were statistical tendencies for decreased (P = 0.06) total monounsaturated fatty acids and increased (P = 0.09) total polyunsaturated fatty acids concentrations in the LL intramuscular fat of high- than low-WBSF pigs. In conclusion, immunocastrated male pigs with tender meat had improved nutritional attributes of pork, with no effects on feed efficiency and carcass traits.

PSXIII-16 Effects of Clay Mineral ‘Illite’ on the Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility and Meat-Carcass Grade Quality in Growing-Finishing Pigs

Abstract Clays are crystalline, hydrated aluminosilicate molecules composed of alkali and alkaline earth cations along with small amounts of various other elements. The best-known are montmorillonite, smectite, illite, kaolinite, biotite and clinoptilolite. Such illite was used in this present study to investigate its effects on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and meat-carcass grade quality in growing-finishing pigs. A total of 150 pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc); weighted 25.42 ± 3.23kg, were selected and randomly allocated to 2 treatments with 15 replicates per group and 5 pigs per replicates according to initial body weight and sex. The experimental treatments consisted of corn-soybean meal-based basal diet (CON) and basal diet supplemented with 0.5% illite (IL). The experiment period lasted for 126 days. Pigs fed IL supplemented diet had greater (P&amp;lt;0.05) average daily feed intake (ADFI) and reduction in G:F during 43 to 70 and 99- 126 days compared with pigs fed CON diet. The apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter (DM) was greater during day 42 and 126 in pigs receiving IL supplemented diet compared with CON diet. The inclusion of IL in the diet of the pigs had increased (P&amp;lt; 0.05) backfat thickness (BFT) during day 98 while drip loss was decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) on day 7 and showed tendency (P=0.088) to increase the meat firmness. Therefore, we concluded that supplementation of 0.5% of IL in diets could improve growth performance, total tract digestibility of dry matter, and meat quality in growing-finishing pigs

Effect of host genetics and gut microbiome on fat deposition traits in pigs.

Fat deposition affects meat quality, flavor, and production in pigs. Fat deposition is influenced by both genetics and environment. Symbiotic microbe with the host is an important environmental factor to influence fat deposition. In this study, the fat deposition traits were measured in 239 individuals obtained from Tongcheng pigs × Large White pigs resource population. The interactions between genetics and gut microbiome in fat deposition traits were investigated through whole-genome sequencing and cecum microbial 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. The results showed that the percentage of leaf fat (PL) and intramuscular fat content (IMF) were significantly influenced by host genetics–gut microbiome interaction. The effects of interactions between host genetics and gut microbiome on PL and IMF were 0.13 and 0.29, respectively. The heritability of PL and IMF was estimated as 0.71 and 0.89, respectively. The microbiability of PL and IMF was 0.20 and 0.26, respectively. Microbiome-wide association analysis (MWAS) revealed Anaeroplasma, Paraprevotella, Pasteurella, and Streptococcus were significantly associated with PL, and Sharpea and Helicobacter exhibited significant association with IMF (p < 0.05). Furthermore, Paraprevotella was also identified as a critical microbe affecting PL based on the divergent Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Overall, this study reveals the effect of host genetics and gut microbiome on pig fat deposition traits and provides a new perspective on the genetic improvement of pig fat deposition traits.

Effects of 100% organic feeding on performance, carcass composition and fat quality of fattening pigs

ABSTRACT In organic pig production, one important aim is to achieve 100% organic feeding. This generates the challenge of achieving adequate protein quality in pig feed. Until 31st December 2021, the protein quality in organic pig feed in Europe was improved by using 5% conventional components, mainly potato protein. To investigate the effects of 100% organic feeding on growth performance, meat and fat quality in pigs, a total of 700 fattening pigs were studied in an on-farm feeding trial. The 95% organic diet fed on each farm served as the control diet (CON) and a 100% organic diet with higher proportions of soybean cake and grain legumes was used as the experimental diet (ORG). ORG-fed animals had slightly lower daily weight gains, lower carcass weight, and significantly higher iodine and PUFA values in the backfat. The feeding trial showed that the 100% organic diet led to a slightly deficient dietary amino acid profile and thus to slightly lower performance in a few traits. However, the implementation of consistent 100% organic feeding was considered valuable for organic farming even with the lower performance and change in meat and fat quality of the organic pigs.

Genetic diversity and population structure of Tongcheng pigs in China using whole-genome SNP chip.

Tongcheng (TC) pigs, distinguished by their superior meat quality, are a Chinese indigenous pig breed. Recently, the genetic resources of TC pigs are under tremendous threat due to the introduction of cosmopolitan pig breeds and African swine fever disease. To promote their management and conservation, the present study assessed genetic diversity and population structure of TC pigs using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. A total of 26, 999 SNPs were screened from 51, 315 SNPs in 68 TC pigs. The multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) analysis and neighbor-joining tree revealed that all 68 pigs were from a purebred population. The effective population size decreased over time, and it was 96 prior to generation 20. Both linkage disequilibrium (LD) and neutrality test indicated a low selection of TC pigs with average LD value of 0.15 ± 0.23. Genetic diversity results exhibited a minor allele frequency (MAF) of 0.23, observed heterozygosity (HO) of 0.32, expected heterozygosity (He) of 0.31, and nucleotide diversity (Pi) of 0.31. All these parameters indicated a remarkably high genetic diversity of TC pigs. Additionally, 184 runs of homozygosity (ROH) segments were detected from the whole genome of TC pigs with an average ROH length of 23.71Mb, ranging from 11.26Mb to 69.02 Mb. The highest ROH coverage was found on chromosome 1 (10.12%), while the lowest was on chromosome 18 (1.49%). The average inbreeding coefficients based on ROH (FROH) was 0.04%. Fourteen ROH islands containing 240 genes were detected on 9 different autosomes. Some of these 240 genes were overlapped with the genes related to biological processes such as immune function, reproduction, muscular development, and fat deposition, including FFAR2, FFAR4, MAPK8, NPY5R, KISS1, and these genes might be associated with such traits as meat quality and disease resistance in TC pigs. Taken together, population structure and genetic diversity results suggested that the TC pig represented a valuable genetic resource. However, TC pig breed conservation program remains to be further optimized to ensure adequate genetic diversity and avoid inbreeding depression. Our findings provide theoretical basis for formulating management and conservation strategies for TC pigs.

Influence of Sugar Beet Pulp Supplementation on Pigs' Health and Production Quality.

Simple SummaryFibre inclusion in animals’ diets can improve digestive health and protect the animal against diarrhoea. However, studies have shown that fibrous feedstuffs can have a variable effect on pig growth, health and production quality. Sugar beet pulp (SBP) is a cheap fibrous material which contains more lysine than wheat grain and has a similar gross energy and crude protein content compared to corn grains. Nevertheless, the effect of fibre supplementation in the diet, especially using SBP, on pork quality has not been widely reported. This study evaluated the effect of an SBP-supplemented diet (3%) on Large White/Norwegian Landrace piglets’ growth performance, health parameters (blood characteristics and faeces microbial profile), carcass and meat quality. The tested diet reduced the average daily gain but improved the carcass quality. It also affected most of the blood parameters, the microbial profiles in pig faeces and the fatty acid and volatile compound profiles of pork meat. Higher drip loss, protein content and redness, along with a lower cooking loss, intramuscular fat content and lightness, were observed in the meat from pigs fed with SBP. Most of the sensory properties, as well as the overall acceptability, were more highly rated for this meat. The SBP-supplemented diet could be beneficial for the improvement of pigs’ gut health and pork quality. However, further studies are needed to indicate which compounds of the SBP dietary fiber are responsible for these desirable changes.Fibrous feedstuffs can have a variable effect on pig growth, health and meat quality. The effect of sugar beet pulp (SBP) supplementation in the diet on pork quality has not been widely reported. This study examines the effect of an SBP-supplemented (3%) diet (TG-I group) on 300 Large White/Norwegian Landrace pigs in terms of growth performance, blood parameters, microbial profiling of faeces, carcass parameters and meat quality, including the profiles of biogenic amines (BAs), fatty acids (FAs) and volatile compounds (VCs). After 163 days of the experiment, TG-I pigs had a significantly lower average daily gain and feed conversion ratio than pigs in the control group, as well as a significantly higher percentage of carcasses in the S and KN classes and a lower percentage in the E and U classes (p ≤ 0.05). Faeces of TG-I contained significantly more bacteria that are considered probiotic. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were found in most of the blood parameters, FA, VC profile and emotional responses between the two groups. Higher drip loss, protein content and redness, as well as lower cooking loss, intramuscular fat content and lightness were observed in the meat of TG-I. Most of the sensory properties, as well as overall acceptability, were rated higher for the meat of TG-I. Based on the results, a diet containing 3% of SBP could be beneficial for the improvement of pigs’ gut health and pork quality. However, further studies are needed to indicate which compounds of the SBP dietary fiber are responsible for these desirable changes.