Balanced branched‐chain amino acids modulate meat quality by adjusting muscle fiber type conversion and intramuscular fat deposition in finishing pigs

Abstract

BACKGROUND Pork is an important food for humans and improving the quality of pork is closely related to human health. This study was designed to investigate the effects of balanced branched‐chain amino acid (BCAA)‐supplemented protein‐restricted diets on meat quality, muscle fiber types, and intramuscular fat (IMF) in finishing pigs. RESULTS The results showed that, compared with the normal protein diet (160 g kg−1 crude protein), the reduced‐protein diet (120 g kg−1 crude protein) supplemented with BCAAs to the ratio of 2:1:2 not only had higher average daily gain (P < 0.05) and carcass weight (P < 0.05) but also improved meat tenderness and juiciness by decreasing shear force (P < 0.05) and increasing water‐holding capacity (P < 0.05). In particular, this treatment showed higher (P < 0.05) levels of phospho‐acetyl‐CoA carboxylase (P‐ACC) and peroxisome proliferation‐activated receptor‐γ (PPARγ), and lower (P < 0.05) levels of P‐adenosine 5‘‐monophosphate (AMP)‐activated protein kinase (P‐AMPK), increasing the composition of IMF and MyHC I (P < 0.05) in the longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM). In terms of health, this group increased eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (P < 0.01) and desirable hypocholesterolemic fatty acids (DHFA) (P < 0.05), and decreased atherogenicity (AI) (P < 0.01) and hypercholesterolemic saturated fatty acids (HSFA) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Our findings suggest a novel role for a balanced BCAA‐supplemented restricted protein (RP) diet in the epigenetic regulation of more tender and healthier pork by increasing IMF deposition and fiber type conversion, providing a cross‐regulatory molecular basis for revealing the nutritional regulation network of meat quality. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Comparison of the Effects of Inorganic or Amino Acid-Chelated Zinc on Mouse Myoblast Growth in vitro and Growth Performance and Carcass Traits in Growing-Finishing Pigs

“…The crude protein (CP) content was measured as described before ( 21 ). Briefly, 0.2 g of the sample was accurately weighed in a tapered bottle together with 8 ml of hydrochloric acid and left at room temperature overnight.…”

Effects of Long-Term Protein Restriction on Meat Quality and Muscle Metabolites of Shaziling Pigs

“…The shear force was measured by a Warner–Bratzler shear force device (TA. XT Plus, Stable Micro Systems, Godalming, UK) as previously described [ 14 ]. Meat pH values were assessed with a portable pH meter (Matthaus pH Star, Eckelsheim, Germany) at 45 min and 24 h post-mortem, respectively.…”

“…The concentration of every fatty acid was expressed as a percentage of total fatty acids. Next, we calculated the following health lipid indicies: the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA): saturated fatty acids (SFA) ratio, n6:n3 PUFA ratio, atherogenicity (AI), thrombogenicity (TI), and peroxidisability (PI), desirable hypocholesterolemic fatty acids (DHFA), hypercholesterolemic saturated fatty acids (HSFA), and hypocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic fatty acids ratio (Hpo/Hper) [ 14 , 18 ].…”

“…Xiao et al adopted 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to analyze the metabolic composition of chicken meat [ 13 ]. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) has been used to investigate the underlying mechanisms responsible for chlorogenic acid-induced improvements in meat quality of broiler breast muscles [ 14 ]. These studies highlighted the effectiveness of metabolomics for the evaluation of meat quality; hence, an approach integrating metabolomics and molecular biology should advance the understanding of the mechanism of meat quality changes in response to low-protein diets.…”

Integrative Analysis of Nanopore and Illumina Sequencing Reveals Alternative Splicing Complexity in Pig Longissimus Dorsi Muscle

“…The content of intramuscular fat (IMF) in meat is strongly correlated with the overall meat quality. Increased IMF content not only promotes the sensory attributes ( Alfaia et al, 2019 ), but also affects the flavor and shear force of pork ( Zhang et al, 2021 ). Furthermore, consumers are more likely to accept meat with higher IMF ( Malgwi et al, 2022 ).…”