title: Short-term feeding of vitamin D3 improves color but does not change tenderness of pork-loin chops.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of short-term feeding of vitamin D3 (D3) on blood plasma calcium concentrations and meat quality of pork-loin chops. Three experiments were carried out to meet this objective. Experiment 1 used 250,000 IU and 500,000 IU/d to determine the effective dose of dietary D3 to raise blood plasma calcium concentration. Experiment 2 used 500,000 IU D3/d to determine the appropriate length of feeding time to elevate blood plasma calcium prior to harvest. Experiment 3 used 500,000 IU D3/d to determine the effectiveness of increased blood plasma calcium in improving postmortem quality and tenderness of pork-loin chops. Pigs fed 500,000 IU D3/d in Exp. 1 exhibited higher (P < 0.05) and more stable plasma calcium concentration over a 14-d feeding trial compared with pigs fed 250,000 IU D3/d and control pigs. Therefore, 500,000 IU D3/d was the dose chosen for Exp. 2, in which pigs fed 500,000 IU D3/d for 3 d prior to harvest exhibited elevated and stable plasma calcium concentrations; this length of time was deemed sufficient in which to observe differences in postmortem meat tenderness in Exp. 3. Vitamin D3 supplementation resulted in lower (P < 0.02) L* values and higher (P < 0.03) a* values of loin chops at 7 and 14 d of shelf storage. Vitamin D3 supplementation did not affect quality characteristics (measured by use of subjective scores) or tenderness (quantified via Warner-Bratzler shear force or Star probe values). On the basis of these findings, feeding 500,000 IU D3/d to finishing pigs improved most Hunter color values at 14 d of storage but did not improve pork-loin chop tenderness at 1 to 21 d of retail shelf storage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames 50011, USA.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Wiegand
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sparks
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Beitz
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Parrish
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Horst
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Trenkle
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Ewan
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood*; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D003116:Color; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000592:standards*; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011897:Random Allocation; D013552:Swine / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002762:Cholecalciferol; D002118:Calcium