In the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains screened from our LAB collection, Lactobacillus (L.) sakei strain no. 23 and L. curvatus strain no. 28 degraded meat protein and tolerated salt and nitrite in vitro. Fermented sausages inoculated strains no. 23 and no. 28 showed not only favorable increases in viable LAB counts and reduced pH, but also the degradation of meat protein. The sausages fermented with these strains showed significantly higher antioxidant activity than those without LAB or fermented by each LAB type strain. Angiotensin-I-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity was also significantly higher in the sausages fermented with strain no. 23 than in those fermented with the type strain. Higher ACE inhibitory activity was also observed in the sausages fermented with strain no. 28, but did not differ significantly from those with the type strain. An analysis of the proteolysis and degradation products formed by each LAB in sausages suggested that those bioactivities yielded fermentation products such as peptides. Therefore, LAB starters that can adequately ferment meat, such as strains no. 23 and no. 28, should contribute to the production of bioactive compounds in meat products.

Forty-eight 154-d-old White Leghorn hens were fed a diet containing 0 (control), 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% bamboo charcoal powder including vinegar liquid (SB). Compared with the control group, production performance in the SB groups did not differ. Egg production tended to be increased in the 0.5 and 1.0% SB groups, but decreased in the 1.5% SB group; the former two groups were higher than the latter (P<0.05). The SB groups showed a lower level of faecal ammonia gas and a higher level of polyphenol in the egg yolk, but the differences were not statistically significant. The intestinal villus height, cell area, and cell mitosis number tended to be higher in the SB groups. Duodenal cell mitosis was increased in all SB groups (P<0.05). The control group showed flat cells on the villus apical surface, while the SB groups showed protuberated cells. The present results indicate stimulating effects of dietary SB on intestinal villi and structure of epithelial cells and the 0.5 and 1.0% levels improved production performance. These suggest that the SB can be supplemented until a level of 1.0%.

We investigated the effects of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on fatty acid composition and lipid oxidation in breast meat of broiler chickens. Broiler chickens (28-day-old females) were fed diets containing experimental oils at 20 g/kg diet for 28 days. The experimental oils consisted of either a 2:0, 1:1, or a 0:2 (wt : wt) ratio of safflower oil (high linoleic acid content) to a commercial CLA mixture. In this study, dietary CLA supplementation significantly increased the composition and content of CLA in chicken meat. The predominant CLA in meat from birds with supplemented diets was the cis-9, trans-11 isomer. The proportion of saturated fatty acid in meat significantly increased with increasing CLA supplementation, with a corresponding decrease in monounsaturated fatty acid. Dietary CLA also reduced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values in raw meat during storage at 4 degrees C for 5 days. These results provide evidence that CLA feeding is a practical strategy not only for adding nutritional benefits to chicken meat but also for improving meat quality including oxidative stability.

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The five most widely accepted procedures for preparing fatty acid methyl esters in food lipids were investigated for their suitability in capillary gas-liquid chromatographic analysis of cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid (c-9, t-11 CLA) in meat. A modified procedure of fatty acid methyl esterification was developed and the method was applied to determine c-9, t-11 CLA content in some resulting c-9, t-11 CLA methyl ester was separated by gas-liquid chromatograph equipped with a capillary column and determined using tricosanoic acid as an internal standard.Meat from ruminant animals considerably contained more c-9, t-11 CLA than those from non-ruminant animals in the following order: goat meat, beef, mutton, pork, and chicken.The amount in goat meat (6.35mg/g lipid) was 10-fold greater than those in pork and chicken.

We screened suitable lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains for use in fermented dairy products by analyzing milk fermented with 10 probiotic LAB strains from Mongolian dairy products. Lactobacillus paracasei paracasei strain 06TCa19 was selected because of its favorable effects on pH, lactic acid production, and viable bacterial numbers after fermentation of skim milk. Then, we prepared 06TCa19 and control fermented milks and conducted a randomized, double-blind crossover study with 46 healthy women to determine the effects of the strain on human defecation. The ingestion of 06TCa19 fermented milk improved the subjects' fecal characteristics, including shape and color. Analysis of stool samples from 8 subjects revealed that l-lactic acid levels and Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium numbers increased. Moreover, strain 06TCa19 was suggested to reach and survive in the intestines, and is, therefore, suitable for fermented dairy products and can potentially improve human defecation.

We comprehensively evaluated meat quality in chickens fed a diet consisting of wood charcoal and vinegar (WCV) using food scientific and histological approaches. In culled hens, lipid and fatty acid in Musculus semimembranosus, cooking loss and sensory tests of whole thigh meat, and meat texture of breast meat were observed. In male broilers, cross section of M. semimembranosus was used for observations on muscle area, perimysium, non-collagen total protein and total collagen content, and anti-collagen I and III reactions. In frozen male broilers, conventional morphology of M. semimembranosus as well as chicken anti-collagen III reaction to selected muscles of thigh meat and breast meat were compared between the control and WCV-fed birds. Increased lipid and fatty acids, decreased cooking loss, high score in total evaluation for sensory test of thigh meat, and decreased meat texture values were observed for culled hens fed WCV. The higher values of muscle area, total collagen and collagen III were observed for broilers fed WCV. No perimysium collapse for M. semitendinosus or increased collagen III reactions of M. tensor fasciae latae, the flexor muscle group and M. pectoralis superficialis were observed for frozen muscles in the WCV group. These total results suggest that WCV produces palatable and tender meat by increasing collagen III.

In this paper, the 9cis, 11trans conjugated linoleic acid (9c, 11t CLA) contents of commercially available meat products and cheeses were determined using our developed method for measuring 9c, 11t CLA in order to obtain basic data about the 9c, 11t CLA content of animal products. The 9c, 11t CLA contents of domestic and imported meat products and cheeses and of ruminant and nonruminant meat products were compared.The mean 9c, 11t CLA content of the domestic meat products was not significantly different from that of the imported meat products. The 9c, 11t CLA content of meat products in which meat from ruminant animals was formulated as raw material was clearly higher than that of meat products from nonruminant animals.The imported cheese products had a higher 9c, 11t CLA content than the domestic products.The 9c, 11t CLA concentrations (mg/ g lipid) of cheeses high in lipid content appeared to be relatively higher compared to those low in lipid content.Quantitative relationships between 9c, 11t CLA and other fatty acids in animal products originating from ruminant animals showed a negative correlation between 9c, 11t CLA and linoleic acid and a positive correlation between 9c, 11t CLA and vaccenic acid. The results of this study indicate that the large variations in 9c, 11t CLA contents of animal products may depend primarily on the materials from which they originate.