The Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Mulberry Leaf Powder on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits and Meat Quality of Tibetan Pigs
Sutian Wang,
Cuiming Tang,
Jianhao Li,
Zhenjiang Wang,
Fanming Meng,
Guoqing Luo,
Haiyun Xin,
Jianwu Zhong,
Yuan Wang,
Baohong Li,
Zhiyi Li,
Lian Chen,
Bin Hu,
Sen Lin
Affiliations
Sutian Wang
Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Cuiming Tang
Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Jianhao Li
Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Zhenjiang Wang
Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Fanming Meng
Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Guoqing Luo
Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Haiyun Xin
Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Jianwu Zhong
Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Yuan Wang
Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Baohong Li
Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Zhiyi Li
Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Lian Chen
Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Bin Hu
Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Sen Lin
Laboratory of Urban Agriculture in South China, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
This research was conducted to study the effects of dietary inclusion of mulberry leaf powder (MLP) on growth performance, meat quality, antioxidant activity, and carcass traits of Tibetan pigs. Eighteen Tibetan pigs (33.8 ± 1.1 kg) were assigned to two treatment groups randomly and received either the control diet (CON) or a basal diet containing 8% MLP (MLP) for two months. After the two-month feeding trial, the MLP group showed lower backfat thickness while a higher lean percentage. Compared with CON pigs, MLP pigs had higher serum CAT activity. In addition, dietary MLP supplementation significantly decreased the muscle shear force. Muscle fiber morphology analysis showed that MLP pigs had larger muscle fiber density while smaller muscle fiber cross-sectional area. Up-regulated gene expression of myosin heavy chain (MyHC)IIa was also observed in MLP pigs. These results indicate that the enhanced antioxidant activity and altered muscle fiber type and morphology appeared to contribute to the improvement of meat quality in Tibetan pigs fed diets containing MLP.
