Effects of dietary corn dried distillers grains with solubles and vitamin E on growth performance, meat quality, fatty acid profiles, and pork shelf life of finishing pigs

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of supplemental corn dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and vitamin E on growth performance, meat quality, fatty acid profiles, and pork shelf life in finishing pigs. Forty-eight (58±2 kg of BW) crossbred pigs (Duroc×Landrace×Large white) were randomly allotted to one of six dietary treatments in a 3×2 factorial arrangement, each treatment with eight replicates consisting of eight pigs. The dietary treatments included three DDGS levels (0, 15, and 30%) and two vitamin E levels (10 and 210 IU/kg). No differences in average daily gain and gain to feed ratio were observed among treatments. However, average daily feed intake was decreased (P<0.05) with increasing levels of DDGS in the diets. Diets supplemented with high levels of vitamin E decreased shear force and drip loss of meat (P<0.05). Feeding diets containing DDGS decreased the proportion of saturated fatty acids (P<0.05), and increased the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (P<0.05) in adipose and muscle. Increasing dietary levels of vitamin E caused an increase in α-tocopherol concentration of plasma, liver, muscle, and adipose tissues (P<0.05). When longissimus muscle samples were vacuum-packaged and stored at 4 °C, the concentration of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) in meat was increased with increasing levels of DDGS in diets and was decreased by the supplementation of vitamin E in diets. There was an increasing trend for thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) when diets containing 15-30% DDGS were fed compared with corn-soybean meal-based diet. Especially on 13 d of storage, the addition of DDGS in diets has a significant effect on TBARS value (P<0.05). However, supplementation with high levels of vitamin E in DDGS diets decreased TBARS value of meat on 4, 7, 10 and 13 d (P<0.05) of storage. These data indicated that diets containing high levels of DDGS have some adverse effects on pork shelf life, supplementation with vitamin E can partially reverse these effects.