Fat quality

Effects of different levels of full fat or defatted rice bran on growth performance and carcass quality of pigs

Rice bran is the main coproduct of the production of white rice for human consumption, and is used in livestock diets around the world. Rice bran can be full fat (FFRB), with 14 to 25% fat, or defatted (DFRB), containing 3 to 5% fat.

The type of fat in the diet affects the quality of fat in the pig, because pigs deposit fatty acids in approximately the same proportions as they exist in the diet. A high consumption of unsaturated fat can inhibit the pig's own synthesis of fat, which tends to be more saturated. The amount of unsaturated fatty acids  in fat can be expressed using the iodine value (IV), where high IVs correspond to more unsaturated fat. Increased IV in pig fat can lead to softer bellies, which are less valuable due to reduced shelf life, increased susceptibility to oxidative damage, and reduced belly sliceability.

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Fresh belly characteristics and commercial bacon slicing yield in growing-finishing pigs fed an antibiotic-free diet or a diet supplemented with a natural antimicrobial

Lowell, J. E., B. M. Bohrer, K. B. Wilson, M. F. Overholt, B. N. Harsh, H. H. Stein, A. C. Dilger, and D. D. Boler. 2017. Fresh belly characteristics and commercial bacon slicing yield in growing-finishing pigs fed an antibiotic-free diet or a diet supplemented with a natural antimicrobial. J. Anim. Sci. 95(Suppl. 5):65 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

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Effects of feeding pelleted diets without or with distillers dried grains with solubles on fresh belly characteristics, fat quality, and commercial bacon slicing yields of finishing pigs

Overholt, M. F., J. E. Lowell, K. B. Wilson, R. J. Matulis, H. H. Stein, A. C. Dilger and D. D. Boler. 2016. Effects of feeding pelleted diets without or with distillers dried grains with solubles on fresh belly characteristics, fat quality, and commercial bacon slicing yields of finishing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 94:2198-2206. Link to full text (.pdf)

Carcass fat quality of pigs is not improved by adding corn germ, beef tallow, palm kernel oil, or glycerol to finishing diets containing distillers dried grains with solubles

Lee, J. W., D. Y. Kil, B. D. Keever, J. Killefer, F. K. McKeith, R. C. Sulabo, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Carcass fat quality of pigs is not improved by adding corn germ, beef tallow, palm kernel oil, or glycerol to finishing diets containing distillers dried grains with solubles. J. Anim. Sci. 91:2426-2437. Link to full text (.pdf)

Up to 30% corn germ may be included in diets fed to growing–finishing pigs without affecting pig growth performance, carcass composition, or pork fat quality

Lee, J. W., F. K. McKeith, and H. H. Stein. 2012. Up to 30% corn germ may be included in diets fed to growing–finishing pigs without affecting pig growth performance, carcass composition, or pork fat quality. J. Anim. Sci. 90:4933-4942. Link to full text (.pdf)

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Up to 30% corn germ may be included in diets fed to growing-finishing pigs without affecting pig growth performance, carcass composition or pork fat quality

Corn germ is a co-product of the wet milling industry that is available for use in swine diets to partially replace the more expensive corn grain. Results of arecent experiment indicated that including 15% corn germ in diets containing 30% DDGS had no negative effects on pig growth performance, carcass composition, or pork fat quality. However, it is not known if greater quantities of corn germ may be included in diets fed to growing-finishing pigs. Therefore, we conducted an experiment to determine if greater levels of corn germ may be included in diets fed to growing-finishing pigs without negatively affecting growth performance, carcass characteristics, muscle and fat quality, or belly quality. The experiment also determined if the presence of DDGS in the diets influences the responses to the inclusion of corn germ.

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Effects of including tallow, palm kernel oil, corn germ, or glycerol to diets containing distillers dried grains with solubles on pork fat quality of growing-finishing pigs

Lee, J. W., B. D. Keever, J. Killefer, F. K. McKeith, and H. H. Stein. 2011. Effects of including tallow, palm kernel oil, corn germ, or glycerol to diets containing distillers dried grains with solubles on pork fat quality of growing-finishing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 89(E-Suppl. 1):679 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

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Effects of corn germ, tallow, palm kernel oil, or glycerol on fat quality of pigs fed diets containing distillers dried grains with solubles

Lee, J. W., B. D. Keever, J. Killefer, F. K. McKeith, and H. H. Stein. 2011. Effects of corn germ, tallow, palm kernel oil, or glycerol on fat quality of pigs fed diets containing distillers dried grains with solubles. J. Anim. Sci. 89(E-Suppl. 2):98 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

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Negative effects of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) on fat quality of pigs are not ameliorated by addition of corn germ, tallow, palm kernel oil, or glycerol to finishing diets

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) can be fed in swine diets at an inclusion rate of up to 30% without negatively affecting pig growth performance. However, DDGS contains high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which may promote deposition of unsaturated dietary fatty acids in adipose tissue. Consequently, inclusion of DDGS at more than 20% has been shown to result in increased fat iodine values (IV) and soft belly production.  The disadvantages of this decrease in fat quality include reduced shelf life, increased susceptibility to oxidative damage, and reduced belly sliceability.

An experiment was performed to determine if the addition of different sources of saturated fat would improve belly fat quality in pigs fed a DDGS-based diet. In addition, the hypothesis that the iodine value product (IVP) of the diet can be used to predict backfat IV and belly fat IV of pigs fed diets containing DDGS was tested.

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