Effect of oregano essential oil and benzoic acid supplementation to a low-protein diet on meat quality, fatty acid composition, and lipid stability of longissimus thoracis muscle in pigs

Abstract

BackgroundConsumers are becoming increasingly interested in food containing appropriately high concentration of intramuscular fat (IMF) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The supplementation of feed with antioxidants decreases degradation of lipids in muscles thereby enhances nutritional and sensory properties of meat. Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of adding oregano essential oil (OEO) and benzoic acid (BA) to low-protein, amino acid-supplemented diets on meat quality, sensory profile, fatty acid composition, and lipid oxidation of longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle in pigs.MethodsIn Exp. 1, 21 barrows were housed in metabolism cages and randomly allotted to 1 of 3 diets. The three diets were normal protein diet (NPD), medium protein diet (MPD) and low protein diet (LPD) with 1% and 2% less than NPD, respectively. In Exp. 2, 36 barrows were randomly divided into three experimental groups, namely, NPD, LPD, and identical LPD supplemented with blends of OEO (250 mg/kg feed) and BA (1000 mg/kg feed) (LPOB) groups.ResultsNo significant effects of diets on meat quality were observed in Exp. 1. The b*45min, tenderness, and IMF content in LPD muscle were higher than those in NPD and LPOB muscle. The LT muscle in LPD group contained a higher percentage of oleic acid (C18:1n-9) and a lower percentage of linoleic acid (C18:2n-6) than those in NPD group. Dietary LPOB improved oxidative stability, total superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase but decreased drip loss in LT muscle.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that growing-finishing pigs fed with a low-protein, amino acid-supplemented diet show a high content of intramuscular fat in the longissimus thoracis muscle. Dietary LPOB enhances the anti-oxidative status by improving antioxidative capacity but deteriorates the sensory attributes by decreasing IMF content of meat.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12944-017-0535-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

An Attempt to Enrich Pig Meat with Omega-3 Fatty Acids Using Linseed Oil Ethyl Ester Diet Supplement

“…It is also worth mentioning that meat cuts examined in this study are one of the most commonly consumed. It should be remembered that the correct n-6 to n-3 ratio in farm animals' meat and meat products can improve a dietary supply of n-3 fatty acids in humans, which is beneficial from a nutritional point of view [43,44].…”

Advances in low-protein diets for swine

“…Growing-finishing pigs fed a LP diet showed a high content of IMF in the longissimus thoracis muscle. In addition, supplementation with antioxidants like essential oil and benzoic acid further decreased the degradation of lipids in muscles [ 110 ]. A study conducted in two different genotypes further suggested that dietary CP regulated lipid anabolism and catabolism via modulation of the mRNA levels of key regulatory enzymes and fatty acid transport proteins in different muscle tissues [ 103 ].…”

Processes in meat oxidation and usage of rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus (L.) Schleid.,) as a natural antioxidant

“…Lipid oxidation should be prevented and regulated to preserve food quality, given the impact that it has on the physical and nutritional characteristics of food. Lipid oxidation can negatively alter sensory attributes such as color, texture, odor and flavor (Gallego et al, 2015;Cheng et al, 2017). Generally, by rancid odors, discoloration, loss of nutritional values and off-flavors (Xiong et al, 2020).…”

“…One of the strategies to reduce meat spoilage due to LO and improve its shelf life is applying antioxidants (Cheng et al, 2017;Aminzara et al, 2019). Antioxidant activity refers to the capacity of a substance to inhibit oxidative degradation caused by the reaction of free radicals (Figure 2).…”

“…These compounds produce unpleasant aromas and flavors in foods, typical of rancidity which negatively alter sensory attributes such as color, texture, odor and flavor (Gallego et al, 2015). It is, therefore, necessary to use alternatives that allow meat preservation, but at the same time seek for consumer acceptance, like using natural antioxidants (Cheng et al, 2017). The food industry commonly uses synthetic antioxidants, which may be unsuitable for consumers, due to their potential toxicity and carcinogenic risks (Aminzare et al, 2019).…”