A High Dietary Incorporation Level of Chlorella vulgaris Improves the Nutritional Value of Pork Fat without Impairing the Performance of Finishing Pigs

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 12; p. 2384
• Main Authors: Coelho, Diogo, Pestana, José, Almeida, João M, Alfaia, Cristina M, Fontes, Carlos M G A, Moreira, Olga, Prates, José A M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 12.12.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Algae; Animal fat; Animal growth; Antioxidants; Aquatic microorganisms; Biofuels; Carbohydrases; Carcasses; CAZymes; Chlorella; Chlorella vulgaris; Diet; fat composition; Fatty acids; Feeds; Finishing; finishing pigs; Food; Food industry; Food supply; Gene expression; growth performance; Hogs; Lipids; Meat; Nutritive value; Pigments; Pork; pork quality; Proteins; Soybeans; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Swine; Swine production; Vertebrae; France; Portugal; growth performance; pork quality; finishing pigs; fat composition; Chlorella vulgaris; CAZymes
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani10122384

The influence of a high inclusion level of , individually and supplemented with two carbohydrase mixtures, in finishing pig diets was assessed on zootechnical performance, carcass characteristics, pork quality traits and nutritional value of pork fat. Forty crossbred entire male pigs, sons of Large White × Landrace sows crossed with Pietrain boars, with an initial live weight of 59.1 ± 5.69 kg were used in this trial. Swines were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments ( = 10): cereal and soybean meal-based diet (control), control diet with 5% (CV), CV diet supplemented with 0.005% Rovabio Excel AP (CV + R) and CV diet supplemented with 0.01% of a four-CAZyme mixture (CV + M). Animals were slaughtered, after the finishing period, with a BW of 101 ± 1.9 kg. Growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits were not influenced ( > 0.05) by the incorporation of in the diets. However, the inclusion of the microalga in finishing pig diets increased some lipid-soluble antioxidant pigments and -3 PUFA, and decreased the -6: -3 ratio of fatty acids, thus ameliorating the nutritional value of pork fat. Moreover, the supplementation of diets with the carbohydrase mixtures did not change ( > 0.05) neither animal performance nor meat quality traits, indicating their inefficacy in the increase of digestive utilization of by pigs under these experimental conditions. It is concluded that the use of in finishing pig diets, at this high incorporation level, improves the nutritional value of pork fat without compromising pig performance.