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Resveratrol (RES) is known as a natural polyphenol, which is found in several plants and herbal medicines. Its biological activity includes antioxidative activities, life-prolonging effect, and energy metabolism regulation effect. Additionally, RES can induce a muscle fibre type transition toward more oxidative muscle fibres. This study investigated the effects of resveratrol (0, 300, 600 mg/kg) on meat quality, muscle fiber characteristics and antioxidative capacity of finishing pigs. Twenty four barrows (Duroc x Large White x Landrace, BW of 78.1 kg) were randomly divided into three groups with 8 duplicates of 1 each. Dietary treatments consisted of a control diet (basal diet) and a control diet supplemented with 300 mg or 600 mg RES per kg of feed. RES was added to the basal diet at the expense of corn starch. Diets were fed for 49 days. Individual body weight and feed intake were measured at the end of the experiment.
The results showed that resveratrol not only increased (P<0.05) m. longissimus dorsi (LM) pH24h, a*, crude protein and myoglobin content but also decreased (P<0.05) L*24h, shear force, drip loss, glycolytic potential, as well as back fat depth, LM lactate dehydrogenase activity and mRNA level. Meanwhile, LM total antioxidative capacity, glutathione peroxidase activity and its mRNA level were increased by resveratrol, while malonaldehyde content was decreased. In addition, resveratrol increased (P<0.05) myosin heavy chain (MyHC)IIa mRNA level and decreased (P<0.05) MyHCIIb mRNA level, along with decreased myofiber cross-sectional area. No effect (P > 0.10) of dietary RES supplementation was detected on body and carcass weight, dressing percentage, LA, and last rib back fat depth.
It is concluded that resveratrol is an effective feed additive that can beneficially improve pork meat quality; RES induces a shift toward more oxidative muscle fibres and increases antioxidative capacity, while decreasing myofiber CSA and muscle lipid oxidation, which may serve as valuable information for understanding the underlying mechanisms of high meat quality in response to resveratrol treatment.
Zhang, C., Luo, J., Yu, B., Zheng, O., Huang, Z., Mao, X., He, J., Yu, J., Chen, J. and Chen, D. 2015. Dietary resveratrol supplementation improves meat quality of finishing pigs through changing muscle fiber characteristics and antioxidative status. Meat Science, 102; 15-21. doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2014.11.014