the aim of the study was to examine the assimilability of organic and inorganic selenium supplied as an additive to pig feed. The influence of both selenium forms on pig slaughter value as well as on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of meat was also examined (experiment i). an attempt to establish the distribution of selenium in the body of experimental fatteners was made (experiment ii). Experiment i was performed on 20 carcasses of crossbred pigs of (polish large White × polish landrace) × duroc genotype and experiment ii was carried out on 45 samples of longissimus and semimembranosus muscles taken from fatteners of the same genotype (plW × pl × duroc). the results obtained indicated that selenium supplementation in the diet had no impact on slaughter performance, meat quality and most physicochemical and sensory characteristics of meat. Selenium was found to have no significant effect on meat colour. The meat water holding capacity (Whc) was lower in the group of pigs fed organic selenium. the highest selenium concentration was found in the semimembranosus muscle of fatteners receiving the inorganic selenium additive.

The aim of this study was to determine the possibility of using duckweed in sustainable livestock production and aquaculture. Duckweed is a small plant which grows in water and is exploited in biotechnology, dietetics, phytotherapy, and ecotoxicology. It is also used for biological waste-water treatment, and for biogas and ethanol production. This study provides the characteristics of duckweed and presents results indicating its applicability in livestock feeding. Duckweed is a rich source of proteins and amino acids, and contains many macro- and micronutrients as well as vitamins and carotenoids. Unfortunately, it accumulates considerable amounts of toxic metals and compounds from the aquatic environment, which may limit its use as a feed ingredient. Fresh or dried duckweed is willingly consumed by animals (poultry – laying hens, broiler chickens, ducks; cows, sheep, goats, swine, fish) and is a valuable protein source to them. It has been scientifically demonstrated that its use in moderate amounts or as a partial replacement of other protein feed materials, including soybean meal, has a beneficial effect on the productivity, fattening, and slaughter performance of livestock and poultry as well as on the quality of their meat and eggs. Research addressing duckweed use as a feed ingredient should focus on developing various growth media technologies, including the use of slurry digestate, to obtain high biomass yields. Another research direction should be to determine risks in the production chain (collection, processing), which limit its use in monogastric and ruminant diets.

weakened growth and development of embryos as well as of fetuses or their organs (iugr) show a relationship with increasing sow fertility. when aiming to increase birth weight in piglets and reduce within-litter variation in piglet body weight, efforts should be made to maintain a favourable maternal environment (uterus-placenta-embryo). intrauterine undernutrition can be limited through the hormonal and/or nutritional treatment of pregnant sows. this has an effect on prenatal myogenesis, resulting in better development of skeletal muscles, higher birth weight of piglets, and progression in postnatal growth rate.

No abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of carcass weight on chemical characteristics and fatty acid composition of m. longissimus dorsi and m. semimembranosus of European wild boar (Sus scrofa scrofa) meat. The research was carried out on 50 wild boars shot during four battues at hunting reserves in the central part of Poland. The carcasses were divided into three groups: ≤30 kg (G1), 31–45 kg (G2), and >45 kg (G3). The protein concentration increased with carcass weight (P ≤ 0.01). The concentration of saturated fatty acids was influenced by carcass weight and was higher when weight increased. A significantly higher level of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) was found in the carcasses of wild boars from G3 compared with G1 group (P ≤ 0.01). The content of C18:2n-6 was significantly lower in the lightest carcasses compared with the heaviest (P ≤ 0.05). Statistical analysis confirmed that carcasses weight significantly affected polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) n-3 content. The lightest carcasses contained a significantly higher concentration of PUFA n-3 (P ≤ 0.01). In addition, in G3, the amount of C22:5n-3 was two-fold lower (P ≤ 0.01) than in G1. The research has shown that the meat quality was affected by the carcass weight, resulting better parameters in the lighter than in the heavier carcasses. Therefore, most of the culled wild boars should be squeakers and young boars after the first year of life.