753
Effects of high levels of nicotinic acid on growth, carcass traits, and meat quality of finishing pigs
A total of 1,232 pigs (PIC 337 × 1050; initially 27.0 ± 0.51 kg) were used in a 98-d study to determine the influence of high doses of added nicotinic acid (NA) on growth, carcass traits, and meat quality of finishing pigs during the summer months. Average daily high, mean, and low temperatures were 27.5, 23.9, and 20.5° C, respectively. There were 28 pigs per pen and 11 replications per treatment. Four dietary treatments were made by adding 0, 350, 700, or 1,050 mg/kg NA (Lonza, Allendale, NJ) to a corn-soybean meal basal diet that contained 30 mg/kg of added NA. Diets were fed in 4 phases with the same NA concentrations in each phase. On d 98 of the study, 2 pigs per pen (1 barrow and 1 gilt) were transported to a commercial abattoir. Carcass traits and pH decline (45 min, 3, and 21 h) were measured at the abattoir. Afterwards, a 40 cm segment of boneless LM was used to determine purge loss and ultimate pH following a 10 d aging period. Then 2.5 cm boneless chops were cut and used to measure subjective color and marbling, objective color (L*, a*, b*), 24 h drip loss, and NA concentration. Overall (d 0 to 98), increasing NA had no effect on ADG or G:F; however, ADFI tended (P = 0.07) to increase. Carcass traits were not influenced by NA. Forty-five min and 21 h pH were decreased with increasing NA (P < 0.01); but ultimate pH was not different. Purge loss, drip loss, and NA concentrations were not influenced by treatment. The a* and b* were increased (P < 0.05) with increasing NA; however, subjective color scores were not different among treatments. Overall, high doses of NA had little influence on growth, carcass traits, and meat quality of finishing pigs raised in a commercial setting.
Table 1. Effects of added dietary NA on growth and meat quality of finishing pigs. |
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Dietary NA, mg/kg |
Probability, P < |
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Item |
30 |
380 |
730 |
1,080 |
SEM |
Linear |
Quadratic |
d 0 to 98 |
|||||||
ADG, kg |
0.82 |
0.82 |
0.83 |
0.82 |
0.005 |
0.40 |
0.50 |
ADFI, kg |
2.03 |
2.08 |
2.10 |
2.07 |
0.017 |
0.07 |
0.71 |
G:F |
0.404 |
0.395 |
0.393 |
0.398 |
0.003 |
0.15 |
0.90 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
L* |
53.12 |
54.67 |
54.56 |
54.16 |
0.82 |
0.54 |
0.21 |
a* |
18.20 |
18.30 |
18.89 |
19.05 |
0.39 |
0.05 |
0.58 |
b* |
16.05 |
16.45 |
16.88 |
17.09 |
0.40 |
0.04 |
0.89 |
Keywords: finishing pigs, niacin, nicotinic acid