Effect of fermented liquid food and zinc bacitracin on microbial metabolism in the gut and sensoric profile of m. longissimus dorsi from entire male and female pigs
Ll. Hansen et al., Effect of fermented liquid food and zinc bacitracin on microbial metabolism in the gut and sensoric profile of m. longissimus dorsi from entire male and female pigs, ANIM SCI, 71, 2000, pp. 65-80
The aim of this work in pigs was to evaluate the effect of fermented liquid
food (FLF) and the combination of FLF plus short-term addition of an antib
iotic food additive zinc bacitracin (FLF + ZB) compared with fed non-pellet
ed dry food (NPDF), on microbial metabolism in the gut and the effects on f
lavour and odour attributes and profiles of pig meat as well as boar odour
from entire male and female pigs.
At an average start weight of 60 kg, 108 pigs (54 males and 54 females) wer
e equally allocated to three treatments according to pen-replicate, litter
and sex. Microbial metabolism in the gut was studied in 24 pigs, eight from
each treatment. For sensory profile evaluation (flavour, odour and tendern
ess) of pork loins from m. longissimus dorsi, 48 pigs (24 entire males and
24 females) were selected. The sensory evaluation of different qualities of
flavour and odour as well as tenderness of cooked pork loins (LD) was done
by a boar taint (skatole and androstenone) trained taste panel. To evaluat
e the odour and the flavour, a sensory profile analysis was performed which
involved the following attributes: total off-odour/off-flavour, pig, urine
, manure, naphthalene, rancid, sweet and sweat in the whole sample includin
g both meat and fat.
Giving FLF to pigs significantly changed the microbiota in the gastro-intes
tinal tract compared with NPDF. In particular the density of coliform bacte
ria was reduced in the gastro-intestinal tract of the pigs on FLF. Giving F
LF demonstrated no effects on skatole concentration in caecum, colon, blood
and backfat and boar odour attributes, whereas administration of FLF + ZB
decreased the skatole concentrations and the typical boar odours, pig and m
anure odour, compared especially with the pigs on NPDF. However, meat from
pigs given FLF either with or without zinc bacitracin had smaller but signi
ficantly worsened scores for three flavour attributes - pig flavour, rancid
flavour and total off-flavour - compared with meat from NPDF pigs and the
three flavour attributes were equally affected in both sexes. This seems to
point to a significant worsening of meat flavour in pigs given FLF that is
independent of sex and boar odour problems (skatole and androstenone).