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This study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary carnosine (β-alanyl-L-histidine) supplementation on antioxidant capacity and meat quality of pigs. 72 pigs approximately 60 kg were fed a corn- and soybean meal-based diet supplemented with 0, 25, 50 or 100 mg carnosine per kg diet for 8 weeks. Carnosine supplementation did not affect growth performance and carcass traits of pigs. However, the addition of 100 mg carnosine per kg diet increased pH value of muscle at 45 min, 24 h and 48 h postmortem. It also decreased drip loss at 48 h postmortem and increased redness value of muscle at 45 min postmortem (p < 0.05). The addition of 100 mg carnosine per kg diet enhanced glycogen concentration and Ca-ATPase activity at 24 and 48 h postmortem, and reduced malondialdehyde and carbonyl protein complexes concentrations in muscle at 24 h postmortem (p < 0.05). The addition of 100 mg carnosine per kg diet increased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities in plasma, liver or muscle, as well as SOD and GSH-Px genes expression in muscle (p < 0.05). Taken together, these findings indicate that carnosine supplementation improves antioxidant capacity and meat quality of pigs., (© 2010 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.)

To investigate the effects of a synthetic soybean isoflavone (ISF) on growth performance, meat quality, and antioxidation in male broilers, 1,500 birds that were 42 d old were allotted to 5 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment (50 birds per replicate). Birds were fed diets supplemented with 0, 10, 20, 40, or 80 mg of ISF/kg, respectively, for a period of 3 wk ad libitum. The results showed that dietary supplementations with 10 or 20 mg of ISF/kg increased weight gain by 13.6 and 16.2% (P < 0.01) and elevated feed intake by 7.37% (P < 0.05) and 11.2% (P < 0.01), respectively. Addition of 10 mg of ISF/kg decreased feed:gain by 5.5% (P < 0.05). Supplementation with 40 mg of ISF/kg in the diet slightly increased water-holding capacity by 17.24% (P < 0.1), and the addition of 20 or 40 mg/kg of ISF significantly increased the pH value of meat (P < 0.01), although adding 40 or 80 mg of ISF/kg increased the lightness of meat color (P < 0.05). Malondialdehyde production was slightly reduced in plasma of 20 mg of ISF/kg supplemented chickens (P < 0.1) and significantly decreased in breast muscles of 20, 40, or 80 mg of ISF/kg supplemented chickens (P < 0.01). The addition of 40 or 80 mg of ISF/kg significantly increased total antioxidant capability (P < 0.01) and slightly elevated total superoxide dismutase activity (P < 0.1) in plasma of chickens. The dose of 80 mg of ISF/kg slightly improved catalase activity in plasma (P < 0.06). In breast muscle, treatment of birds with 40 or 80 mg of ISF/kg caused an increase of total superoxide dismutase activity by 25.36% (P < 0.05) or 63.93% (P < 0.01). Catalase activity significantly increased by 70.61% by the supplemental ISF at the 40-mg level (P < 0.05). Also, 10, 20, or 40 mg doses of ISF/kg decreased lactic acid production (P < 0.05). The results of this study indicate that dietary ISF could improve growth performance and meat quality by decreasing lipid peroxidation and improving antioxidative status in male broilers.

The study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with spray-dried animal plasma (SDAP) on growth performance, intestinal morphology, as well as serum and intestinal cytokines and antioxidant indicators of artificially reared neonatal piglets. Three diets, 1) control (a fish meal basal diet), 2) SDAP (containing 10% SDAP), and 3) autoclaved SDAP (auSDAP; containing 10% auSDAP), were fed to 36 weaned piglets (3 d old), which were randomly allotted to 3 groups. At 21 d of age, blood and intestinal mucosal samples were collected from all piglets after they were slaughtered. Compared with the control, both SDAP and auSDAP improved ADFI and duodenal villus height of piglets (P < 0.05), whereas SDAP increased ADG and duodenal villus height to crypt depth ratio (P < 0.05). Piglets fed SDAP and auSDAP had reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) content in mucosa (P < 0.05). The concentration of serum MDA was decreased and mucosal catalase (CAT) activities were increased in piglets fed SDAP diet than those fed the control diet (P < 0.05). In the mucosa, both SDAP and auSDAP decreased tumor necrosis factor α, IL-6, transforming growth factor β, and soluble IL-2 receptor contents (P < 0.05). Mucosal IL-1β was decreased in SDAP compared with auSDAP and control groups (P < 0.05). The SDAP and control groups had increased mucosal IL-2 compared with auSDAP group (P < 0.05). The cytokines in serum were not affected by SDAP and auSDAP. The results indicate that both SDAP and auSDAP improved the growth performance of neonatal piglets, whereas the SDAP had a greater effect. The benefits of SDAP probably resulted from the promotion of the intestinal development, which were accompanied by the increased antioxidant capacity and the decreased production of inflammatory factors in the intestinal mucosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]