Evaluation of green tea by-product and green tea plus probiotics on the growth performance, meat quality and immunity of growing–finishing pigs

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of green tea by-product (GTB) and green tea plus probiotics (GT+P) on the growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, blood parameters and immunity of growing–finishing pigs. In total, 80 crossbreed growing pigs were assigned to receive four dietary treatments for a period of 8 weeks. The dietary treatments were a basal diet (control), basal diet supplemented with 0.003% chlortetracycline (antibiotic), basal diet with 0.5% GTB (GTB) and basal diet containing 0.5% GT+P (GT+P). The results of our study indicated that bodyweight gain increased (P < 0.05) in response to the addition of GT+P to the basal diet. Crude protein and crude ash content, and shear values of loin meat were significantly (P < 0.05) increased in the GT+P group, although moisture and juiciness were decreased (P < 0.05). The GTB group had higher (P < 0.05) serum glucose concentrations, whereas the GT+P exhibited lower (P < 0.05) insulin concentrations. The values of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances of fresh loin meat and meat that had been preserved for 1 week were lower (P < 0.05) in the GT+P group than those of the control and GTB groups. The growth of spleen cells incubated in concanavalin A (Con A) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) medium was statistically higher (P < 0.05) for the GT+P group than for the GTB or antibiotic group. IL-6 and TNF-α production by spleen cells induced by Con A and LPS was increased in the GTB and GT+P group (P < 0.05) compared with the antibiotic group. Taken together, the results of the present study indicated that GT+P exerts positive effects on weight gain, meat composition, blood parameters and immunity in pigs, and could be used as an alternative to antibiotics for growing–finishing pig feeds.

Effects of supplementation with green tea by‐products on growth performance, meat quality, blood metabolites and immune cell proliferation in goats

“…Supplementation with green tea had no adverse effect on sensory attributes of goat meat, which is consistent with the results of a study conducted by Hossain et al. (). The reduction in cooking loss without affecting the water holding capacity, pH and sensory attributes indicated the beneficial effect of GTB on meat quality.…”

“…Indeed, its (ECGC) ability to neutralize free radicals is 100 times greater than that of vitamin C and 25 times higher than that of vitamin E (Graham, ). The effects of dietary inclusion of green tea on TBARS reduction have also been reported in pig (Ko et al., ; Hossain et al., ,b) and broiler meat (Yang et al., ).…”

“…Conversely, Hossain et al. () and Ko et al. () reported no effect of green tea supplementation on the crude fat and cholesterol content of pig meat.…”

“…() and Hossain et al. () reported high moisture and low ash in the longissimus muscle and loin meat of finishing pigs fed diet supplemented with green tea. Our results demonstrated that GTB supplementation quadratically increased the CP content of goat meat.…”

A sensitive UPLC–MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of polyphenols and theaflavins in rat plasma: Application to a pharmacokinetic study of Da Hong Pao tea

“…Tea polyphenols and pigments exhibit preventive functions against bacteria, radiation and hardening of blood vessels, and exhibit strong antimutation and anti‐aging activities (Grassi et al, ; Hodgson & Croft, ; Liu, Liu, Xue, & Gao, ; Sur et al, ; Yung et al, ; Zhao, Yu, Wang, Liang, & Hu, ). Oolong tea is one of the four typical groups of Chinese teas classified according to the degree of fermentation: green tea (nonfermented), oolong tea (semi‐fermented), black tea (fully fermented) and dark tea (post‐fermented) (Erener et al, ; Hossain, Ko, Park, Firman, & Yang, ). Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) is a premium Wuyi Rock tea from the oolong tea group (Zhao, Duan, Lin, Naixing, & Wang, ).…”