Preliminary Research on Dietary Supplementation of Potassium Magnesium Sulphate on Transport Stress in Finishing Pigs Prior to Slaughter.

Simple Summary: Transport stress prior to slaughter frequently induces a stress response, compromising meat quality. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary potassium magnesium sulphate (PMS) supplementation during the fattening stage on the stress response and meat quality in finishing pigs subjected to a transport challenge prior to slaughter. Our findings indicate that while dietary PMS supplementation did not affect growth performance during the fattening period, it significantly enhanced antioxidant capacity and meat quality. In the transportation model, PMS supplementation significantly improved the antioxidant capacity, stress response and meat quality of finishing pigs. These results suggest potential applications of PMS in the livestock industry to enhance animal welfare and meat quality. Transport stress prior to slaughter frequently induces a stress response, negatively affecting meat quality. This study investigated the impact of dietary potassium magnesium sulphate (PMS) supplementation during the fattening stage on the stress response and meat quality in finishing pigs subjected to transport stress. The experiment involved two phases. Initially, 48 finishing pigs (68.00 ± 0.40 kg) were randomly allocated into two groups: a control group receiving a basal diet (CON) and a PMS-supplemented group receiving the basal diet with 0.50% PMS. Each group was housed in six pens, with four pigs per pen. After 60 days of feeding, in the second phase, two pigs from each pen were randomly selected for slaughter, with one pig subjected to a 4 h transportation stress prior to slaughter. Pigs were categorized into four treatment groups based on diet and stress: (1) control without transport stress, (2) control with transport stress, (3) PMS-supplemented without transport stress, and (4) PMS-supplemented with transport stress. Serum, jejunum, and longissimus thoracis muscle (LM) samples were collected. The results indicated that dietary PMS supplementation did not significantly affect growth performance during the fattening stage (p > 0.05). However, following transport, the PMS pigs showed a reduction in norepinephrine and cortisol concentrations (p = 0.09, p < 0.05) and a significant increase in serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity (p < 0.05). Furthermore, PMS supplementation significantly increased serum catalase (CAT), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels (p < 0.05), while significantly reducing cholesterol (CHO) levels (p < 0.05). Transport stress adversely affected the intestinal health of finishing pigs, as evidenced by a decrease in intestinal villus height (0.05 < p < 0.1), a condition ameliorated by PMS supplementation. Additionally, transported pigs exhibited a higher drip loss_24h in LM (p < 0.05), which was also alleviated through PMS supplementation. In conclusion, PMS supplementation mitigates transport stress and improves meat quality in finishing pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]