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Influence of supplemental magnesium, tryptophan, vitamin C, vitamin E, and herbs on stress responses and pork quality¹

Laboratory for Quality Care in Animal Production, Zootechnical Centre, K.U. Leuven, B-3360 Lovenjoel, Belgium

² Corresponding author: Rony.Geers{at}biw.kuleuven.be

This study investigated the effects of supplemental Mg, Trp, vitamin C, vitamin E, and herbs on stress responses, skin lesions, and meat quality of slaughter pigs (106.0 ± 8.6 kg of BW). These 5 supplements were tested in 4 similar experiments. In Exp. 1, 2 treatments were tested: 1) control treatment without supplementation, and 2) supplementation of an herbal product (2.5 g/L of drinking water for 2 d). Eighty-eight pigs per treatment were involved, of which 40 were selected for meat quality measurements (over 4 replicates). The experimental design of Exp. 2 and 3 was the same as Exp. 1, except that in Exp. 2 Mg (3 g/L of drinking water for 2 d) was supplemented and in Exp. 3 Trp (6 g/kg of feed, as-fed basis) was supplemented. In Exp. 4, 3 treatments were tested: 1) control treatment without supplementation, 2) supplementation of vitamin C (300 mg/kg of feed for 21 d, as-fed basis), and 3) supplementation of vitamin E (150 mg/kg of feed for 21 d, as-fed basis). In Exp. 4, 66 pigs per treatment were used, of which 42 were evaluated for meat quality (over 6 replicates). Pigs supplemented with vitamin E ate less than control (P = 0.03) or vitamin C-supplemented pigs (P = 0.03). Pigs were transported to a commercial slaughterhouse and were slaughtered after a lairage period. Blood sampling at slaughter revealed no differences between the control and supplemented pigs in plasma cortisol, glucose, lactate, or creatine kinase concentrations. Pigs provided with Mg (P = 0.002) or Trp (P = 0.04) had lower plasma NEFA concentrations than control pigs, and pigs supplemented with vitamin C had greater concentrations than the control (P = 0.03) or vitamin E-supplemented pigs (P = 0.01). Supplementation of the herbal product increased the frequency of pigs with shoulder (P = 0.05) and loin lesions (P = 0.03), whereas Mg lowered the incidence of loin lesions (P = 0.01). Measurements of pH and temperature in the LM and biceps femoris 45 min postmortem revealed no differences among treatments, and no influence of treatments on LM pH, electrical conductivity, and water holding capacity was observed 48 h postmortem. Compared with the control loins, loins of pigs supplemented with vitamin C (Japanese color scale, L*, and a* value; P < 0.05) or vitamin E (Japanese color scale and a* value; P < 0.03) were redder and less pale, and the loin of vitamin E-supplemented pigs was more yellow (b* value; P = 0.04). Generally, Mg could lower loin damage, whereas vitamin C and vitamin E supplementation resulted in a color improvement of the loin.

Key Words: herb • nutrient supplementation • pig • pork quality • skin lesion • stress

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