Purpose The volatile compounds that contribute to the flavor of pork are unknown. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the differences in volatile compounds from pork meats of four different pig breeds using headspace solid‐phase micro‐extraction (HS‐SPME)/gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). Methods Piglets from four breeds (8/breed) (crossbred Ziwuling Sus scrofa [SUS] and purebreds Bamei pig [BAM], American Yorkshire pig [YOK], and Hezuo pig [HZP]) were selected. Characteristics of meat were measured. HS‐SPME/GC‐MS were used to analyze the volatile compounds of the meats. Results The tenderness, taste, succulence, and broth flavor of the BAM and HZP were good. One hundred and eight volatile compounds with known molecular formulas were identified in BAM, 106 in SUS, 98 in YOK, and 98 in HZP. Sixty‐four common volatile compounds were found in all four breeds. The highest relative amount of volatile compounds was found in the BAM. The compounds which may contribute to the flavor of pork were 3‐methyl‐1‐butanol, 1‐nonanal, octanal, hexanal, 2‐pentyl‐furan, 1‐penten‐3‐one, N‐morpholinomethyl‐isopropyl‐sulfide, methyl butyrate, and (E,E)‐2, 4‐decadienal. Conclusion The volatile compounds in pork belong to several classes, and the highest relative amount of volatile compounds was found in BAM.

The paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) leaf is rich in alkaloids and flavonoids, which has high medicinal and feeding value. We aimed to analyze the effects of B. papyrifera leaf extract on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immune functions, and fecal microflora of weaned piglets. Thirty healthy, 28-day-old piglets were randomly assigned to three groups and fed with a basal diet supplemented with 0, 150, and 300 g/t B. papyrifera leaf extract for 42 days (control group, group I, and group II) separately. The result revealed that the final weight of piglets in group II was higher than the other groups, and the diarrhea rate in this group was 62.9% lower than in the control group. The feed conversion ratio in group I was significantly lower than the other two groups. Higher blood urine nitrogen concentration was noted in group II, higher glutathione peroxidase and catalase in group II, higher superoxide dismutase in the control group, and higher immune globulins (Ig) IgG, IgA, and IgM in group II. There was no significant difference in community richness and community diversity among the three groups of fecal samples. The relative level of Roseburia was higher in groups I and II, while Lactobacillus was higher in the control group. In conclusion, supplementation with B. papyrifera leaf extract at a certain dosage can increase growth performance and antioxidant capacity of weaned piglets, reduce the occurrence of diarrhea, enhance immune functions and disease resistance, and affect the composition of fecal microflora.

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BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary mulberry leaves on the transcriptome profiles of finishing pigs. RNA‐Seq was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the longissimus dorsi of 56 pigs fed either a traditional diet or diets supplemented with 3%, 6% or 9% mulberry leaf powder, and both gene ontology (GO) function and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Furthermore, protein–protein interaction (PPI) network and the subnet module analysis were used to identify genes with beneficial potential, and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) was used to validate the expression patterns revealed by RNA‐Seq.ResultsPigs fed with the 6% mulberry diet exhibited greater average daily gain, lower water loss and lower shear force than the control group and yielded 531 DEGs, including 271 and 260 upregulated and downregulated genes, respectively. Function analysis revealed that the DEGs were significantly enriched in functions related to muscle growth and development. Furthermore, several genes (i.e. ACOT4, ECHS1, HACD1, NPR1, ADCY2, MGLL and IRS1) were enriched in a KEGG pathway that was associated with fatty acid metabolism, and in the PPI subnet module, four of eight node genes, namely TNNC1, MYL3, TCAP and TNNT1, were associated with muscle formation and development. The upregulation of these genes, including TNNC1, TNNT1 and MYL3, was confirmed by qRT‐PCR.ConclusionsDietary mulberry leaves (6%) may improve the muscle quality of pigs by modulating the expression of several key genes, such as TNNC1, MYL3 and TNNT1.

Broiler breast patties cooked in a water bath (85°C vs 95°C) or oven (160°C vs 180°C) to an internal temperature of 83°C were stored at 3°C for 3 days, reheated, and evaluated by headspace GC and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) methods. Cooking temperature within the same cooking medium had no effect on TBA values or headspace GC profiles of cooked, stored samples. During post-cooking storage TBA values and several headspace volatiles increased. The changes were more severe in oven-cooked than water-cooked patties, which could have been partly due to lower moisture content of the oven-cooked patties. Significant correlations were found between TBA values and several major headspace volatiles (pentanal, hexanal, heptanal, and total volatiles).

This study aims to determine the effect of adding different proportions of Broussonetia Papyrifera (BP) fermented feed on Hu sheep. Forty male Hu sheep (weighting 20.6 ± 2.20 kg) were collected, and then divided into group I, II, III and IV, with 0, 5%, 10% and 15% of BP fermented feed to based diet, respectively. After the trial period of 10 and 50 days, the sheep were slaughtered by conventional methods for the chemical analyses. It showed that adding 10% fermented feed could significantly increase the growth performance of the Hu sheep. Adding the fermented feed can improve the protein level, main flavor amino acid content and fatty acid in the muscle. Based on the HS-SPME-GC-MS methods, a total of 125, 120, 119 and 117 kinds of volatile compounds were identified in group I, II, III and IV, among which the relative content of the acid compound, ester compound, ketone compound and aldehydes in group II, III and IV were higher than that in control group, respectively. Addition of BP fermented feed could significantly improve growth performance and meat quality of Hu sheep.

Objective Silkie chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus brisson) is also named Chinese Taihe chicken, characterized by blue comb, green earlobes, black skin, meat and bones. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of spirulina feeding on the nutritive value and flavour of silkie hens eggs. Methods A total of 280 Silkie hens of 42 weeks old were fed 4 different diets, including basal diet and basal diet containing 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5% spirulina. Each diet group was divided into 70 Silkie hens experimentally. The production performance of silkie hens, the nutritional compositions [e.g., amino acids (AAs) and fatty acids] and flavour substances of silkie hens eggs were compared with control. Results A 0.3% and 0.5% spirulina feeding significantly increased the average egg production rate and average egg weight, while only 0.3% spirulina feeding decreased both the average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio of silkie hens compared with the controls (p < 0.05). The contents of crude protein, fat, cholesterol and Ca in silkie hens eggs were significantly increased by 0.3% spirulina feeding (p < 0.05). Only fat and cholesterol were significantly increased by 0.5% spirulina but had no significant difference compared with 0.3% spirulina. The flavour, amino acids/total AAs, and saturated fatty acids/unsaturated fatty acids in silkie hens eggs were significantly increased by 0.3% spirulina feeding than other groups (p < 0.05). A total of 46 volatile substances were identified in silkie hens eggs, and the substances of total acids, alkanes and aldehydes were significantly increased by 0.3% spirulina feeding. Conclusion Spirulina feeding at a proportion of 0.3% improved the production performance of silkie hens, and nutritive value and flavour of silkie hens eggs.

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