Interrelationships between porcine somatotropin (pST), betaine, and energy level on body composition and tissue distribution of finisher boars

Abstract

Fifty-six individually penned boars (initial weight 64 kg) were used to investigate the interactions between dietary betaine, dietary energy, and porcine somatotropin (pST) treatment. The study was a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment with the respective factors being dietary betaine (0 or 1.5 g/kg) and energy level (80% or 100% ad libitum) and treatment with pST (0 or 5 mg/day). A Hologic QDR4500A Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometer (DXA) was used to determine body composition of pigs at the beginning and end of the study at Day 35. After slaughter, the composition of the whole half-carcass as well as the shoulder, ham, belly, and loin primal cuts was determined with DXA and verified with manual dissection. The main effects of dietary betaine were most pronounced when dietary energy was restricted. Under these conditions, daily gain was increased by dietary betaine (1188 v. 1271 g/day, P = 0.049) and pST (1115 v. 1344 g/day, P < 0.001). When dietary energy was restricted, lean tissue deposition was increased by dietary betaine (830 v. 908 g/day, P = 0.032) and pST (764 v. 974 g/day, P < 0.001), and these effects were additive. As a result, the lean meat yield in the half-carcass was increased by both dietary betaine (23.9 v. 25.1 kg, P = 0.043) and pST (23.3 v. 25.7 kg, P < 0.001). Lean tissue responses in primal cuts were more variable but followed a similar pattern. There was little effect of either dietary betaine or pST on fat deposition. These data demonstrate that when energy intake is limiting the potential for growth (as is normally the case for the improved boar), then both dietary betaine and pST treatment, either alone or in combination, can increase lean tissue deposition without increasing fat deposition.

Impact of dietary betaine and conjugated linoleic acid on insulin sensitivity, protein and fat metabolism of obese pigs

“…Most studies with betaine in pigs focus on the effect of betaine on growth performance, carcass characteristics and pork quality. Several reports have indicated that betaine could decrease carcass fat deposition and increase carcass lean in pigs (Matthews et al, 2001;Ferná ndez-Fígares et al, 2002), -E-mail: ifigares@eez.csic.es especially under restricted energy intake (Suster et al, 2004) conditions. In contrast, CLA is a collective name that refers to a mixture of positional and geometric conjugated isomers of linoleic acid.…”

Plant bioactives for ruminant health and productivity

“…Physiologically, betaine has an important osmoregulatory action and can serve as a methyl group donor via S-adenosyl-methionine. When incorporated into pig diets, betaine has been reported to improve growth performance by reducing the maintenance energy requirement of the animal (Schrama et al, 2003;Suster et al, 2004). This occurs through reducing the need for sodium/potassium pumping to maintain cellular osmolarity.…”

Dietary betaine supplementation has energy-sparing effects in feedlot cattle during summer, particularly in those without access to shade

“…Thus, the trend for carcass weight to be increased in steers supplemented with betaine may be the result of increased fat thickness. There is no evidence to support betaine directly influencing lipid metabolism; instead, betaine is thought to reduce maintenance energy requirements by maintaining cellular osmolarity without requiring ion pumps in cells exposed to hyperosmotic conditions (Moeckel et al 2002), which allows more energy to be directed towards fat accretion (Campbell et al 1995;Suster et al 2004). In chickens, betaine is able to maintain gut cellular osmolarity and improve and stabilise the structure of gut mucosa (Kettunen et al 2001), although in meat lambs, betaine supplementation did not alter the hydration status of the animals at slaughter (Pearce et al 2008).…”