Performance and meat quality in pigs fed hydrolysable tannins from Tara spinosa

This study aimed to assess the effect of dietary tara (Tara spinosa (Feuill & eacute;e ex Molina) Britton & Rose) hydrolysable tannins on performance and meat quality of finishing pigs. Twenty barrows (crossbred PIC x Pi & eacute;train; age: 125 +/- 5 d; bodyweight: 60.8 +/- 3.89 kg) were randomly assigned to two groups and fed ad libitum for 7 weeks a control diet (CON) or a diet supplemented with 10 g/kg of tara tannins (TAT), respectively. No differences (P > 0.10) on growth performance and carcass traits were observed between the two groups. Meat fatty acid profile was not affected (P > 0.10) by the diet, but the content of C22:5 n-3 tended to be lower (P = 0.079) in TAT pork. Dietary tannins tended to reduce (P = 0.095) meat cholesterol. The diet had no effect (P > 0.10) on fat-soluble antioxidant vitamins, hydrophilic antioxidant capacity, catalase activity, and glutathione peroxidase activity. Superoxide dismutase activity tended to be lower (P = 0.087) in TAT meat than in CON meat. Dietary tannins did not affect (P > 0.10) backfat and meat color development during 6 days of refrigerated storage, but TAT meat tended to be darker (P = 0.082). Meat from pigs fed tara tannins showed lower (P = 0.028) hydroperoxides content and a tendency toward lower conjugated dienes (P = 0.079) and malondialdehyde (P = 0.084) contents. Also, dietary tannins delayed lipid oxidation in meat subjected to oxidative challenges such as catalysis and cooking (P < 0.05). The positive effect of dietary tara hydrolysable tannins on lipid oxidation was likely due to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity, but it may have been mitigated by the high alpha-tocopherol content in meat.

Automated summary

This study aimed to assess the effect of dietary tara hydrolysable tannins on the performance and meat quality of finishing pigs. The results showed that the addition of tannins tended to reduce the content of certain fatty acids and cholesterol in meat, and delay lipid oxidation. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity of tara tannins may contribute to these positive effects.