Evaluation of dietary synbiotic supplementation on growth performance, muscle antioxidant ability and mineral accumulations, and meat quality in late-finishing pigs

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of synbiotic supplementation on growth performance, muscle antioxidant capacity and mineral contents, and meat quality in late-finishing pigs. Fifty barrow pigs were randomly allocated into two treatments with five replicates each and fed a basal diet supplemented with or without 1 g/kg synbiotic consisted of prebiotics (yeast cell wall and xylooligosaccharide) and probiotics (Clostridium butyricum, Bacillus licheniformis, and Bacillus subtilis) for 21 days, respectively. Treatment did not affect growth performance in late-finishing pigs (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, pigs in the synbiotic group exhibited a higher superoxide dismutase activity in the Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle, whereas a lower malondialdehyde concentration in the gluteus muscle (P<0.05). Additionally, dietary synbiotic inclusion decreased drip loss in the LD and gluteus muscles at 48 h post-mortem, and cooking loss in the LD muscle compared with the control group (P<0.05). In contrast, dietary synbiotic supplementation numerically reduced total lead retention in the gluteus muscle (P<0.1). The results suggested that dietary synbiotic supplementation to the diet of late-finishing pigs would enhance muscle antioxidant capacity, improve meat quality, whereas numerically reduce muscle lead retention.

Keywords

• synbiotic
• muscle antioxidant capacity
• meat quality
• mineral accumulations
• late-finishing pigs