Sponsor Day on animal feeding 15th-16th May 2014 IRTA Mas Bover Author:

1. 05.05.2014
1
NUTRITION AND PRODUCT QUALITY
Giuseppe Bee
Agroscope Institute for Livestock Sciences (ILS)
Email: giuseppe.bee@agroscope.admin.ch
AWAITING CHALLENGES
• By 2050 world population will grow from 7.2 to 10.9 billion (USCB)
• Food production needs to increase by 60 to 70% in the next 35 yrs.
• By 2020 an increase of 20% needs to be already achieved (OECD).
• Food from animal sources plays a key role thus animal protein
production needs to grow at least 3 times by 2050 (FAO).
• Swine, poultry, beef and fish production needs to be multiplied by 1
and 10, respectively.
• Conclusion and key challenge:
• Due to lack on arable land, increase in intensification is inevitable.
• Environmental friendly, sustainable food and animal feed production
with limited availability of resources.

2. 05.05.2014
2
CHALLENGES FOR THE SWINE PRODUCTION SECTOR
• Swine producers will have “to do more with less”.
• Foreseen scenarios are:
• Higher feed costs (corn, soybean…)
• More pressure from legislation (e.g. antibiotics, animal welfare…)
• Greater expectations from consumers towards product quality
• How to achieve this goal:
• Improve feed efficiency
• Optimal relationship between slaughter weight and feed efficiency
• Improve feeding techniques and feeding programs based on pig nutrient
requirements = precision feeding
• Improve animal health
• Decrease animal losses from birth to slaughter
HOW CAN PORK QUALITY BE DEFINED?
Nutritional
quality
Eating
quality
Hygienic
quality
Processing
quality
• Protein
• Fat
• Mineral & vitamins
• Energy
• pH
• Water-holding capacity
• Lipid composition
• Connective tissue content
• Anti-oxidative status
• Content of microorganisms
• Residues
• Contaminants
• Appearance
• Color
• Marbling
• Odor
• Flavor
• Juiciness
• Tenderness

3. 05.05.2014
3
RELEVANCE OF THE QUALITY CRITERIA
Price relevant
• Slaughter weight
• Lean meat content
• Fat quality (e.g. CH)
• Off-odor (production of entire males)
Not price- but quality- and
image-relevant
• Marbling
• Inter- and intramuscular fat content
(IMF)
• pH45 min, pH3 h, pH24 h
• Water holding capacity (WHC)
• Drip loss
• Thaw loss
• Cooking loss
IMPORTANCE OF DEPOSITED FAT
Carcass leanness determined by
Fat compartments relative importance allometric growth rate
• Subcutaneous fat 60 – 70% +++
• Perirenal fat 5% ++++
• Intermuscular fat 20 – 35% ++
• intramuscular fat < 1% +
Marbling is a major trait affecting
• Nutritional quality
• Eating quality
• Processing quality
early developing
late developing
Increased IMF equals:
• enhanced acceptability
• improved perception of
texture and taste

4. 05.05.2014
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NUTRITION AND FAT DEPOSITION RATE
IMF
Feed
restriction
Compensatory
growth
Protein level
Protein : energy
ratio
Lysine level
↓↓↓
↑↑↑
↑↑↑
Lebret et al., 2001
Anim. Sci. 72:87-94
Gondret and Lebret, 2001
J. Anim. Sci. 80:3184-3194
13.1% CP18.3% CP
↑↑↑
Lebret et al., 2001
Anim. Sci. 72:87-94
IMF, %
IMF, %
IMF, %
Backfat ↑↑ ←
Backfat ↑↑ ←
→ Backfat ↓↓↓ → Backfat ↑
IMF CONTENT AND EATING QUALITY
Influence of intramuscular fat content on willingness to eat
(A) and to purchase (B) pork Fernandez et al., 1999
Meat Sci. 53:67-92
Before tasting
Before tasting
After tasting
After tasting
Increased IMF levels on
consumer acceptability
• Is favorable up to 2.5 –
3.5% IMF
• Favorable effect of IMF
is only valid if it is not
associated with an
excessive increase in
intermuscular fat

5. 05.05.2014
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OPPORTUNITIES AND POTENTIAL OF THESE STRATEGIES
• Genetic baseline for IMF deposition
• e.g.: Duroc > Landrace > Large White > Pietrain
• Market demand
• Choose feeding strategies accordingly
• Progressive EAAS:energy ratio reduction + limiting dietary energy
• Increase in IMF > adipose tissue
Relationship is questioned
Rincker et al., 2008
J. Anim. Sci. 86:730-737
Tenderness
Pork flavor
Juiciness
Shear force
Marbling does not influence eating experience and tenderness.
Additionally, consumers appear to select less marbled pork in the retail case because they
prefer to purchase leaner pork.

6. 05.05.2014
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WATER-HOLDING CAPACITY (WHC) AND TENDERNESS
pH decline post-mortem
• Muscle glycogen stores
• Glycolysis rate
Proteolysis (muscle to meat conversion)
• Calpain activity
• Muscle calcium level
WHAT ARE MAJOR INFLUENCING FACTORS?
• Pre-slaughter handling of the pigs
• Fasting time, transport time, lairage time, animal handling to the
stunning area
• Post-slaughter handling of the carcass
• Carcass chilling regime (e.g. duration of blast-chilling), hot or cold-
deboning
• Nutritional strategies which affect:
• Muscle protein turnover
• Calcium metabolism
• Glycogen metabolism

7. 05.05.2014
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MUSCLE PROTEIN TURNOVER: WHC AND TENDERNESS
• Compensatory growth
• Elevates muscle protein turnover
• Challenge is to establish optimal length of compensatory period → level of protein
degradation
• Dietary vitamin D3 → elevates tissue calcium level
• Effects on calpain activation = important for early post-mortem proteolysis
• Duration prior to slaughter and level
Protein
synthesis
Protein
degradation
Feeding strategy → Proteolytic potential → + / - proteolysis
• WHC
• tenderness
in vivo
muscle growth
After slaughter
(post-mortem)
Adapted from Kristensen et al., 2002
J. Anim. Sci. 80:2862–2871
MUSCEL GLYCOGEN METABOLISM: WHC, COLOR…
Ways to reduce muscle glycogen stores
• Short time feeding of a high fat (18%)/protein (24%) and low
carbohydrate (<5%) diet
• Reduced muscle glycogen stores
• Higher pH 45 min, enhanced WHC
• Delayed conversion of glycogen to lactate
Muscle gylcogen Lactate
Anaerobic process
pH-decline
• WHC
• Drip loss
• Juiciness
• Meat color
• Lightness
Feed-induced drop of muscle glycogen level in the muscle
Rosenvold et al., 2001
Meat Sci. 57:397-406

8. 05.05.2014
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MUSCEL GLYCOGEN METABOLISM: WHC, COLOR…
Delayed glycolysis resulting in longer sustained calpain induced
proteolysis:
• Improve WHC
• Drip loss
• Color
Muscle gylcogen Lactate
Anaerobic process
slowed
Creatine
(e.g.: Creatine monohydrate)
Phosphocreatine
(muscle energy reserve)
Different effects of dietary creatine monohydrate fed to Duroc
and Landrace pigs on WHC (Young et al. 2004)
ADIPOSE TISSUE QUALITY IS IMPORTANT
Adipose tissue
Fat content & composition
Texture of fat
Oxidative stability
These traits are dependent on the fatty acid composition of the adipose
tissue
• Saturated fatty acid (SFA: 16:0, 18:0)
• Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA: 16:1, 18:1)
• Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA: 18:2, 20:4, 18:3, 20:5)
Firm texture and high
oxidative stability is a
prerequisite for the production
of high quality meat products

9. 05.05.2014
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Fat composition – de novo synthesis or diet
18:2n-6
18:3n-6
20:3n-6
20:4n-6
18:3n-3
18:4n-3
20:4n-3
20:5n-3 (EPA)
22:6n-3 (DHA)
22:5n-3 (DPA)
24:6n-3
D6-desaturation
elongation
D5-desaturation elongation
Elongation & D6-desaturation
Linoleic acid Linolenic acid
b-oxidation
Glucose
Stearic acid
Palmitic acid
Oleic acid
Feed
Differences in the composition between tissues
Inner layer
Outer layer
These differences are independent of
• Nutrition
• Breed
• Sex
• Management
Unsaturation degree (=ratio of PUFA + MUFA : SFA) of fat deposits
follows a negative gradient from outside to inside

10. 05.05.2014
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NUTRITIONAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH FAT QUALITY
Unsaturation
degree
Feed
restriction
↑↑↑ → Fat deposition rate ↓↓↓
SFA MUFA PUFA
Relativetototalfattyacids,%
0
10
20
30
40
50
HS (TZ: 842 g/d)
LS (TZ: 461 g/d)
H: 14.0 MJ VES/kg
L: 8.8 MJ VES/kg
(Bee et al., 2002)
Dietary fat
composition
= ↑ PUFA level
PUFA level in the diet, g/MJ VES
0.7 1.0 1.2 1.6
PUFAlevel,%oftotalfattyacids
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
Backfat - outer layer
Backfat - inner layer
Leaf fat
(Perdrixund Stoll., 1995)
↑↑↑
Dietary
conjugated
linoleic acid (CLA)
↓↓↓ → Fat deposition rate ↓
Intrinsic factors (gender, breed, age) affecting
the extent of deposited fat tissue are the baseline
for the impact of the mentioned extrinsic factors
Oxidative
stability
Antioxidants
• Vitamin E
• Selenium
• Vitamin C
↑↑↑
WHICH QUALITY IS REQUESTED?
Contradiction between requirements
• Meat processors
• Firm fat = high proportion of SFA and limited proportion of PUFA +
MUFA
• Not prone to oxidative alterations
• Less problematic due to the availability of antioxidants
• Human nutrition
• Limit SFA and increase PUFA intake
• Lower n-6 to n-3 fatty acid ratio of dietary fat
• Greater proportion of long chain n-3 fatty acids

11. 05.05.2014
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POSSIBLE STRATEGIES FOR “TO DO MORE WITH LESS”
• Improve production efficiency
• Selection for decreased residual feed intake (RFI*)
• Selection for “less demanding” pigs
e.g. able to cope with lower dietary protein supply
able to cope with greater dietary crude fiber feed
• Use of alternative feed sources
• High crude fiber feedstuff + enzyme supplements
• Insect proteins
• Lecithin
• Precision feeding
• Improve growth models including impact on muscle development
*RFI = difference between observed and expected feed intake based on maintenance and requirement. Low RFI = more efficient pigs
AWAITING CHALLENGES: SELECTION FOR LOW RFI
Low RFI
Carcass fat IMF
Muscle
Muscle fiber
hypertrophy
Glycogen
pHultimate
WHC
↓↓
↑↑
↓↓
↑↑ ↑↑
↓↓
↓↓
Tenderness↓↓
Possible strategies to counteract the negative effects of RFI selection
• Gradually reduce lysine supply (precision feeding)
• Elevate IMF without affecting overall carcass fat deposition
• Use compensatory growth strategy
• Elevate proteolytic potential of the muscle the day of
slaughter
• Use glycogen reducing diets prior to slaughter
• Reduce glycogen stores and delay pH decline and improve
WHC

12. 05.05.2014
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AWAITING CHALLENGES: SELECTION FOR HYPERPROLIFICACY
Increasing
litter size
Low birth
weight pigs
Muscle fiber
hyperplasia
↑↑ ↓↓
Growth
efficiency
↓↓
Tenderness WHC Carcass fat
↑↑↓↓↓↓
Possible strategies to counteract the negative effects of low birth weight pigs
• Adapt feeding to impaired growth potential of these pigs
• Restricted feeding
• Improve early life feeding (lactation period)
• Artificial feeding aiming to increase muscle fiber hyperplasia
CONCLUDING REMARKS
• A variety of nutritional tools/strategies are known to affect growth
efficiency and meat quality
• Interactions among these nutritional tools/strategies (and intrinsic
factors) are not well understood and awaits evaluation
• New technologies (NGS, -omics) will help understand underlying
mechanisms of interactions
• Only if pre-slaughter management of pigs and post-slaughter
handling of carcasses is optimal, nutrition strategies is decisive
for pork quality.