The influence of feed additive “Activo” on the content of total lipids and their classes profile in liver and skeletal muscles of pigs

With an increase in meat consumption the requirements for its quality also rise. As pork is the second most popular meat in the world, producers of this product are trying to improve its quality. The purpose of our research was to determine the effect of the feed additive “Activo”, containing essential oils of cinnamon, rosemary and oregano, and chili pepper extract, on the total lipids content and their individual class profile in liver and skeletal muscles of pigs. The study was conducted on pigs of the large white breed, weighing 70 kg, divided on two groups, according to the piglets-analogues principle, which then were divided into control and experimental groups. Pigs of both groups received standard feed (SF) intended for this age group. Pigs of the experimental group received the feed additive “Activo” in an amount of 0.1 kg/t of feed in addition to SF. The duration period of experiment was 40 days. Samples of liver, longissimus dorsi, and latissimus dorsi muscle tissues were used as material for the study. The total lipid content was determined using gravimetric method, and individual lipid profile using thin-layer chromatography on silica gel plates. The study has shown that the total lipid content in the liver, long and broad back muscles of pigs of the experimental group was 1.66 and 1.95 (P≤0.001) and 1.26 (P≤0.05) times higher, respectively, than in animals of the control group. The relative cholesterol esters content in the liver lipids of the experimental group pigs was 1.9 (P≤0.001) times higher than in the control group. Instead, in the latissimus dorsi muscle, a lower content of triacylglycerols and a higher content of unesterified fatty acids (P≤0.05), esterified cholesterol (P≤0.05), and especially phospholipids (P≤0.001) were admitted. It was determined significant decrease of unesterified cholesterol content in the latissimus dorsi muscle (P≤0.001) and increase of phospholipids content (P≤0.001) under the effect of the researched feed additive.