Dietary supplementation withMoringa oleiferaand mulberry leaf affects pork quality from finishing pigs

Moringa oleiferaandMorus albaleaves are nutritious non-traditional feed ingredients containing bioactive substances. This study was to evaluate the potential application of dietaryMoringaandMorusleaf powder on the growth traits, carcass characteristics and meat quality of finishing pigs.Moringadid not alter growth performance or carcass characteristics, but it decreased meat b* value, increasedMyHCIIaand decreasedMyHCIIxmRNA levels, and increased CP and concentrations of Ala, Thr, Ile, Lys and Pro in longissimus thoracis.Morusincreased final BW, ADFI and ADG, decreased F/G ratio, improved slaughter weight, carcass weight, carcass yield and meat a* value, and decreased shear force, drip loss,MyHCIIxandMyHCIIbmRNA levels, and increasedMyHCIandMyHCIIamRNA levels.Morusalso increased CP, Glu, Gly, Ala, Arg, Ile, Phe, Pro, Ser, Tyr and Asp, and C16:1, C18:1n9c, C20:4n6, C18:3n3, C20:3n3, C22:1n9 and n-3 PUFA, but decreased C12:0 and C16:0. In summary,Morusimproved the parameters and held great potential as an unconventional feed crop.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the effects of dietary Moringa and Morus leaf powder on finishing pigs and found that Morus significantly improved growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality parameters. This suggests that Morus has great potential as an unconventional feed crop.