Meat

Color, Marbling, and Firmness Characteristics of Pork Loins from Growing-Finishing Pigs Supplemented with Conjugated Linoleic Acid

Authors: , , , ,

Abstract

A study was initiated to research the efficacy of feeding conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) to market barrows to achieve improvements in growth, carcass, and pork quality characteristics. The feeding of CLA at a constant level (0.75%) from 40 kg to 115 kg of body weight resulted in a significant increase in subjective marbling scores and tended to increase subjective firmness scores of loins from CLA-treated pigs compared with loins from pigs on the control diet. No Hunter color differences were observed when day of shelflife was evaluated in the statistical model. Hunter color values were analyzed independent of day. No differences were observed for L* and a* values. A significant difference (P< .05), however, was observed for b* values indicating a more yellow product from CLA supplementation.

Keywords: ASL R1615

How to Cite: Wiegand, B. R. , Parrish, F. C. , Franey, K. J. , Larsen, S. T. & Sparks, J. C. (1999) “Color, Marbling, and Firmness Characteristics of Pork Loins from Growing-Finishing Pigs Supplemented with Conjugated Linoleic Acid”, Iowa State University Animal Industry Report. 1(1).