Interpretive Summary: Effects of dietary vitamin E and fat supplementation in growing-finishing swine fed to a heavy slaughter weight of 150 kg: I. Growth performance, lean growth, organ size, carcass characteristics, primal cuts, and pork quality

By: Ding Wang, Young Dal Jang, Gregg K. Rentfrow, Michael J. Azain, and Merlin D. Lindemann

The study aimed to assess the effect of vitamin E (VE) supplementation and fat source on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and pork quality of pigs slaughtered at 150 kg. Fat sources included corn starch (no fat added), or 5% tallow, distiller’s corn oil (DCO), or coconut oil (CN); VE supplementation levels were 11 and 200 ppm. Increasing dietary VE from 11 to 200 ppm tended to increase the efficiency of conversion of feed to body weight gain for the overall study period. The pigs fed the DCO diet had greater backfat depth at slaughter. Belly (from which bacon is made) firmness was greatest in the pigs fed the CN diet and lowest in those fed the DCO diet. In conclusion, increasing dietary VE levels from 11 to 200 ppm slightly increased growth rate and feed efficiency, and the addition of fat increased feed efficiency and backfat thickness, decreased lean muscle content, and altered belly firmness. While there were some effects of VE supplementation and fat source, there was no strong evidence that VE supplementation and fat source materially affected these measurements except for belly firmness.

Read the full article on the Journal of Animal Science.