Effects of dietary inclusion of soy oil on growth performance, carcass characteristics, serum metabolites, hormones, and meat quality in finishing pigs
High level of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and saturated fatty acids (SFA) in pork is beneficial and detrimental to human health, respectively. Inclusion of PUFA in diet may decrease IMF due to its inhibition of de novo synthesis of fatty acids, which has a negative effect on meat eating quality. Diet energy level is a leading factor for lipid deposition in IMF. We hypothesize that increasing dietary energy level by including PUFA will increase its content without decreasing IMF in meat, thus increasing meat’s nutritional value without lowering meat eating quality. The results showed that increasing dietary energy level by inclusion of soy oil decreased ADFI (P<0.01) and feed: gain ratio (P<0.01), increased ADG (P<0.05), increased serum triglycerides concentrations (P<0.05) and decreased serum urea concentrations (P<0.05). Carcass characteristics, meat quality and serum concentrations of hormones (insulin, GH, IGF-I, glucagon and TNF-α) were unaffected. Percentages of SFA and monounsaturated fatty acids decreased (MUFA) while the PUFA increased (P<0.05) in longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle as dietary energy level increased. In conclusion, increasing dietary energy level by inclusion of soy oil could be a suitable way to improve growth performance as well as nutritional value of pork without lowering eating quality.
Key Laboratory for Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of SubtropicalAgricult Key Laboratory for Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of SubtropicalAgricult College of Animal Science and Feed, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, China Key Laboratory for Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of SubtropicalAgricult Key Laboratory for Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agricul