BackgroundThere has been an increased interest in nutritional strategies to manipulate the fatty acid pro le of pigs. Dietary regimens involving the use of oils that are high in monosaturated fatty acid (MUFA), primarily oleic acid (OA), such as canola oil (CO), as well as in omega (n)-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), which are found in sh oil (FO), have been investigated aiming healthier fatty acid pro le cuts, with a higher ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acids. Therefore, the effects of including 3% soybean oil (SO), CO, or FO in growing-nishing pig diets vs. feeding a standard commercial diet with 1.5% SO (control) on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, consumer acceptability, and intramuscular fatty acid composition of the longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle were evaluated. ResultsDietary treatments had no effect on overall growth performance and pig carcasses. Although loins from pigs fed diets containing either 3% SO or CO showed a reduction (P = 0.05) in Warner-Bratzler shear force, only the addition of 3% SO to pig diets resulted in loin chops that were rated higher (P < 0.001) for consumer overall liking. Adding either 3% SO or CO increased (P < 0.01) the percentages of OA and total MUFA in the LL intramuscular fat compared to controlor FO-fed pigs. However, intramuscular fat from 3% SO-or CO-fed pigs had the lowest (P < 0.01) proportion of total n-3 PUFA than control-or FO-fed pigs.Including 3% fat, regardless of source, reduced (P < 0.01) total PUFA, total n-6 PUFA, and PUFA:saturated fatty acid (SFA) ratio than control-fed pigs. Dietary FO inclusion decreased (P < 0.01) n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio, but also increased total SFA (P < 0.01) and atherogenic index (P = 0.02) in the LL intramuscular fat. ConclusionsAlthough adding 3% CO or FO to pig diets provided slight nutritional bene ts to consumers in terms of MUFA and long chain n-3 PUFA contents, respectively, formulating growing-nishing diets with 1.5% SO was adequate enough in terms of LL intramuscular fatty acids composition for high quality meat destined to human consumption. BackgroundNutritional interventions play a major role in e ciently producing lean, quality pork for processing and storage, including retail display. Apart from being recognized as excellent energy sources, fats comprise a practical dietary strategy for improving pig productivity [1]. Fat-rich diets have been implemented for growing-nishing pigs to decrease voluntary feed intake and improve feed e ciency [2, 3], as well as to alleviate the energy loss as heat increment, especially in heat stress conditions [4]. Additionally, fats are sources of fat-soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids, and may act as signaling molecules [5]. However, feeding supplemental fat to pigs may be limited by the cost effectiveness in least-cost formulation [6].Collectively, all animal products provide 56% of the total fat, 74% of the saturated fatty acids (SFA), 70% of the protein, and 100% of the cholesterol consumed [7]. Dietary guidelines for humans in the last years have focused on limiting ...

A two-part study was conducted at a commercial beef slaughter plant to determine the effects of conventional and spray chilling on carcass yields and traits, and also to determine the effects of carcass spacing on carcass yields in a spray-chilling system. In the first part, 15 steer beef carcasses per day were selected on three consecutive days, and alternate right and left sides were subjected to conventional or spray chilling. In part II, 10 carcasses per treatment per day were selected for 3 d and 24 carcasses per treatment on d 4, to test the effects of three carcass-spacing treatments on yield and USDA grade. Spray-chilled sides shrank only .54 kg (.32%), which was 1.90 kg, or 1.14%, less (P<.05) than conventionally chilled beef sides. Spray-chilled sides also had significantly younger skeletal and overall maturity scores than conventionally chilled sides. Vacuum-packaged inside rounds (IMPS 168) from spray-chilled sides had signifieandy more purge (.04 kg or .26%) than those from conventionally chilled sides. Spacing treatments where foreshanks were aligned in opposite directions and where they were aligned in the same direction but with 15 cm between sides both resulted in less shrink (P<.05) during a 24-h spray-chill period than the treatment where foreshanks were aligned in the same direction but with all sides tightly crowded together. (

Among several techniques to improve beef tenderness, vitamin D3, important for calcium mobilization, has recently been developed as an alternative. It acts on the intracellular calcium-dependent proteases (mu- and m-calpain). Ten days prior to slaughter, 36 Nelore steers were fed 0, 3, 6 and 9 million IU of supplemental vitamin D3 (D3) per animal per day (an-1 d-1). Animals were slaughtered and tenderness (shear force), cooking losses (1, 8 and 15 days of aging), sensory evaluation, and minerals in blood plasma and muscle (Longissimus dorsi) were measured. There were no differences (P > 0.05) among treatments for blood plasma and muscle mineral concentration, evaporation losses, and sensory juiciness. For drip and total loss, the smallest losses were for the 6 × 10(6) IU an-1 d-1 treatment. The control treatment resulted in lowest shear force and aging also tended to lower resistance to shearing. The 3 × 10(6) IU an-1 d-1 treatment had a positive effect on tenderness, flavor and overall palatability. High levels of supplemental D3 did not improve the quality characteristicsof Longissimus dorsi muscle from Bos indicus animals.

Dietary fatty acids (FA) are components of the lipids, which contribute to membrane structure, energy input, and biological functions related to cellular signaling and transcriptome regulation. However, the consumers still associate dietary FA with fat deposition and increased occurrence of metabolic diseases such as obesity and atherosclerosis. Previous studies already demonstrated that some fatty acids are linked with inflammatory response, preventing metabolic diseases. To better understand the role of dietary FA on metabolic diseases, for the first time, a study to identify key transcription factors (TF) involved in lipid metabolism and inflammatory response by transcriptome analysis from liver samples of animal models was performed. The key TF were identified by functional enrichment analysis from the list of differentially expressed genes identified in liver samples between 35 pigs fed with 1.5% or 3.0% soybean oil. The functional enrichment analysis detected TF linked to lipid homeostasis and inflammatory response, such as RXRA, EGFR, and SREBP2 precursor. These findings demonstrated that key TF related to lipid metabolism could be modulated by dietary inclusion of soybean oil. It could contribute to nutrigenomics research field that aims to elucidate dietary interventions in animal and human health, as well as to drive food technology and science.

RESUMO -O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito da injeção pós-morte de cloreto de cálcio (CaCl 2 ) e o tempo de maturação no amaciamento e nas perdas por cozimento do músculo longissimus dorsi de animais Bos indicus e Bos taurus selecionados para ganho de peso. Foram usados 64 machos inteiros (16 Caracu, 16 Guzerá, 16 Nelore Controle e 16 Nelore Seleção). Vinte quatro horas após o abate, foi retirada uma amostra do músculo Longissiumus dorsi (contra-filé) entre a 6 a e 9 a vértebras lombares e dividida em nove subamostras. Em cada grupo de três subamostras escolhidas ao acaso, foi injetada, na quantia correspondente a 10% do seu peso, uma das seguintes soluções: a) água (controle), b) 200 mM de CaCl 2 e c) 300 mM de CaCl 2 . Cada subamostra foi, então, embalada a vácuo, congelada (-2 o C) e maturada por 1,7 ou 14 dias até a realização de testes de força de cisalhamento e perdas por cozimento (evaporação, gotejamento e perdas totais). Foi usado delineamento experimental completamente casualizado com parcelas subdivididas, em que a parcela correspondia à raça e a sub-parcela, à combinação entre três níveis de CaCl 2 e três tempos de maturação. A raça influenciou a força de cisalhamento, mas não influiu nas perdas por cozimento A maturação por um período de sete dias reduziu os valores de força de cisalhamento e as perdas por evaporação, gotejamento e totais. Maiores concentrações de CaCl 2 resultaram em menor força de cisalhamento e maiores perdas por evaporação, embora não tenham influenciado as perdas por gotejamento e totais. A concentração de 200 mM CaCl 2 apresentou a melhor redução para a força de cisalhamento. A injeção pós-morte de uma solução de CaCl 2 aumentou o processo de amaciamento, sem influir nas perdas por cozimento. Palavras-chave: amaciamento da carne, cloreto de cálcio, Bos indicus, Bos taurus, força de cisalhamento, injeção, Longissimus dorsi Effects of Postmortem Calcium Chloride Injection and Aging Time on Tenderness and Cooking Losses of Longissimus dorsi Muscle From Bos indicus and Bos taurus Animals Selected for Weight GainABSTRACT -The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of postmortem calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ) injection and aging time on tenderness and cooking losses of Longissimus dorsi muscle from Bos indicus and Bos taurus animals selected for weight gain. Sixty-four young bulls (16 Caracu, 16 Guzera, 16 Nellore Control and 16 Nellore Selection) were used. Twenty four hours after slaughter a sample from Longissimus dorsi muscle, taken between the 6 th and 9 th lumbar vertebrae was removed and divided into nine sub-samples. In each sub-samples, randomly selected, an amount correspondent to 10% of sub-sample weight was injected, with one of the following solutions: a) water (control), b) 200 mM CaCl 2 or c) 300 mM CaCl 2 . Each sub-sample was then vacuum-wrapped, cooled to -2 o C and aged for 1, 7 or 14 days until the realization of the shear force and cooking losses (evaporation, drip, and total losses) tests. A completely randomized design with a split-plot arra...