Effects of Level of Fresh Apple Pomace in Mixed Silage on Growth Performance, Meat Quality and Serum Metabolites in Finishing Pigs

Abstract

Fifteen crossbred (Yorkshire×Duroc×Landrace) castrated male finishing pigs were used to evaluate differences in the growth performance, meat quality, and serum metabolites associated with mixed silages prepared with various proportions of fresh apple pomace (FAP). A basal feed consisting primarily of brown rice was used as the control. For the different treatments, FAP was added to basal feed at levels of 2% (AP2%), 4% (AP4%), 6% (AP6%), and 8% (AP8%) on a dry-matter (DM) basis and prepared into silage. The pigs were divided into five groups, each of which was fed either the control feed or one of the four FAP-supplemented feeds ad libitum during the experiment. Feed treatment did not significantly affect finished body weight, average daily gain, carcass weight, back fat thickness, or dressing ratio. However, average daily feed intake (ADFI) increased, and feed efficiency decreased, when the level of FAP supplementation was greater than 4%, and there were significant differences among the treatments (P＜0.05). Compared with the control, frozen drip loss and cooking loss of meat decreased significantly when the FAP level was greater than 4% (P＜0.05). The fatty acid composition of meat was not affected by feed components. However, serum HDL-cholesterol level related to animal health tended to (P＝0.079) improve in the AP2%. These results suggest that 2% AP supplementation is favorable for pig growth performance, meat quality, and health.