Dietary supplementation of Lonicera macranthoides leaf powder improves amino acid profiles in serum and longissimus thoracis muscle of growing-finishing pigs

摘要

A 60-days feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of dietary supplementation of Lonicera macranthoides leaf(LML) on growth performance, meat quality, and free amino acid profiles in growingfinishing pigs. L. macranthoides leaves were harvested, air-dried and milled to powder. A total of 288 crossbred barrows(Large White x Landrace) with an average initial BW of 54.0 ± 3.4 kg were randomly allocated to 3 treatment groups and fed either a basal diet or a diet supplemented with 0.5% or 1.0% LML powder. Results showed that diet supplemented with LML powder did not affect average daily feed intake(ADFI) and feed: gain ratio(P> 0.05) in growing-finishing pigs. Moreover, diet supplemented with LML powder showed no significant effects on carcass traits(P > 0.05) including dressing percentage,backfat thickness and loin muscle area, and meat quality traits(P > 0.05) including meat color, intramuscular fat and cooking loss. However, diet supplemented with LML powder significantly improved free amino acid profiles in serum and longissimus thoracis muscle in growing-finishing pigs. Most importantly, dietary LML powder increased total free amino acids content(P < 0.001) and essential free amino acid content(P < 0.001) in longissimus thoracis muscle. These results indicate that LML has the potential to improve the nutritional value of meat through improving free amino acid profiles.