Effect of dietary supplementation with sugar cane extract on meat quality and oxidative stability in finishing pigs

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with sugar cane extract (SCE) on meat quality and oxidative stability of Longissimus dorsi muscle in finishing pigs. Eighteen barrows (Duroc × Landrace × Jiaxing Black), with an average initial body weight of 62.1 ± 5.0 kg, were randomly allotted to 1 of 3 diets with 6 replicates per treatment for 42 days. The diets comprised a normal diet and the normal diets supplemented with 5 and 25 g/kg SCE. The results showed that SCE supplementation did not affect final body weight of finishing pigs. Dietary SCE supplementation significantly increased (P < 0.05) Longissimus dorsi muscle pH(24 h), and tended to reduce (P < 0.1) and significantly decreased (P < 0.05) shear force, drip loss, myofiber cross sectional area and lactate dehydrogenase activity at 5 and 25 g/kg, respectively. Meanwhile, dietary SCE treatments significantly decreased (P < 0.05) malonaldehyde content and total superoxide dismutase activity in Longissimus dorsi muscle, and tended to reduce (P < 0.1) malonaldehyde content in serum. Altogether, these data indicate that SCE is an effective feed additive to improve pork meat quality, and the underlying mechanism may be partly due to the improved oxidative stability induced by dietary SCE supplementation.