Meat quality and storage characteristics of finishing pigs by feeding stevia and charcoal

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effects of stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) and charcoal supplementation on meat quality traits in finishing pigs. A total of 420 pigs (LYD) were randomly allocated into seven treatments with three replications. The dietary treatments were T1 (control, basal diet), T2 (basal diet+0.3% stevia), T3 (basal diet+0.6% stevia), T4 (basal diet+0.3% charcoal), T5 (basal diet+0.6% charcoal), T6 (basal diet+0.3% stevia+0.3% charcoal), and T7 (basal diet+0.6% stevia+0.6% charcoal). Pigs were slaughtered conventionally on each marketing day and chilled overnigth. At 24 h postmortem, the Longissimus muscle from left side between the 6th and 14th rib was removed for the meat quality traits. The T6 group showed a higher pH, water holding capacity (p<0.05), and lower drip loss (p<0.05) than those in the T1 group. The T6 group showed lower (p<0.05) L* (lightness) and b* (yellowness) values and higher a* (redness) color value than those in the T1 group, resulting in a redder surface meat color. In the subjective evaluation, marbling and color scores improved in the T6 group compared to those in the other treatments. In the panel test, the T6 group tended to have higher tenderness and juiciness scores than those in the T1 group. In the storage characteristics, all treatments showed similar 2-thiobarbituric acid and volatile basic nitrogen values as well as total microbial counts during 7 d of cold storage. As a result, dietary supplementation with 0.3% stevia and 0.3% charcoal showed the highest meat quality traits and storage characteristics in finishing pigs.