Effects of dietary fish oil or rice bran on meat quality and meat production in fattening pigs

Effects of feeds contained fish oil and rice bran on meat quality and production performance in pigs were investigated and meat quality of different sites of loin was compared. Sixty six three-way crossbred fattening pigs (32 barrows and 34 gilts) were used. Three experiments were carried out: addition of fish oil, experiment 1 and 2, and addition of rice bran, experiment 3. All pigs were individually reared and fed ad libitum from 30kg to 105kg body weight. They were given ration for finishing swine added rice bran or fish oil and slaughtered at 105kg of body weight. After 24 hours of slaughter, loin meat was sampled at the two sites of fifth-eighth thoracic vertebra (front loin) and thirteenth-sixteenth thoracic vertebra (rear loin). The following features of meat were measured: meat color, water holding capacity: drip loss and cooking loss, water and intramuscular fat content of meat, tenderness and pliability. There were no effects of feed content on meat production performance. Front site was different from rear site in meat color (PCS: pork color standard, a* value, b* value and L* value), drip loss and intramuscular fat. There were statistically significant correlations between meat quality and meat production performance in common to both front and rear site of loin. There were the correlations of b* value with age at 105kg body weight, daily gain with feed conversion ratio, water holding capacity with feed conversion ratio, intramuscular fat with back fat thickness, and tenderness with age at 105kg of body weight and back fat thickness. Many correlations of meat quality traits differed in front site and rear site of loin. At front site of loin, correlation between tenderness and intramuscular fat was significantly negative, but almost zero at rear site of loin. As an exception, correlations of drip loss with L value and PCS were high in both sites of loin