title: Dietary Lecithin Supplementation Can Improve the Quality of the M. Longissimus thoracis.
abstract: Forty crossbred (Large White × Landrace × Duroc) female pigs (16.4 kg ± 0.94 kg) were used to investigate the effect of dietary lecithin supplementation on growth performance and pork quality. Pigs were randomly allocated to a commercial diet containing either 0, 3, 15 or 75 g lecithin/kg of feed during the grower and finisher growth phase. Pork from pigs consuming the diets containing 15 g and 75 g lecithin/kg had lower hardness ( P < 0.001) and chewiness ( P < 0.01) values compared to the controls. Dietary lecithin supplementation at 75 g/kg significantly increased ( P < 0.05) the linoleic acid and reduced ( P < 0.05) the myristic acid levels of pork compared to the control and the 3 g/kg and 15 g/kg lecithin supplemented treatments. Pigs fed the 75 g/kg lecithin supplemented diet had lower plasma cholesterol ( P < 0.05) at slaughter compared to pigs fed the control diet and the 3 g/kg and 15 g/kg lecithin supplemented treatments. These data indicate that dietary lecithin supplementation has the potential to improve the quality attributes of pork from female pigs.
authors.affiliation: Australian Pork Limited, Level 2, 2 Brisbane Ave, Barton, Australian Capital Territory 2600, Australia. darryl.dsouza@australianpork.com.au.
authors.forename: Darryl N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: D'Souza
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, South Perth, Western Australia 6151, Australia. bronwyn.blake@agric.wa.gov.au.
authors.forename: Bronwyn L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.affiliation: School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. ian.williams@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Ian H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, South Perth, Western Australia 6151, Australia. bruce.mullan@agric.wa.gov.au.
authors.forename: Bruce P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Mullan
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia. D.Pethick@murdoch.edu.au.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Pethick
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. fdunshea@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Frank R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Dunshea
keywords: compression; lecithin; pork quality; texture