Pig diet with bioactive compounds influences quality of meat and smoked ham

Abstract

The application of novel meat sources to the production of traditional  smoked premium ham was evaluated. Various feeding strategies were designed for 90 Duroc x (Duroc x Landrace) pigs. The experiment was  conducted to investigate the effects on the quality of meat and smoked ham when supplementing the diet of slaughter pigs with linseed oil and  rapeseed oil and with the addition of vitamin E. Proximate composition, pH, texture and colour parameters of the quadriceps femoris muscles (raw pork and pork ham) were determined. The multivariate analysis of these traits demonstrated that the 3% addition of linseed oil to pigs’ diet caused a decrease in the fat content in meat, and in higher meat tenderness and protein content. Diet supplementation with 3% linseed oil caused a significant increase in the technological yield of ham production (20.3%), but only in products with high fat content (8.30%). Data allowed the authors to conclude that diet supplementation with 3% linseed oil, coupled with 100 mg vitamin E, is the best form of supplementing a diet for fatteners that are reared in compliance with the rigorous principles of the pork quality system.

Keywords: Lineseed oil, rapeseed oil, pork, texture