Conjugated linoleic acid and betain prevent pork quality issues from diets containing distillers' dried grains with solubles

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) or betaine (BET) in diets containing distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS) on the fatty acid profile and the shelf-life attributes of pork. Thirty-two (609±kg) crossedbred barrows (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshine) were randomly assigned to one of four diets: (1) the control diet containing no corn DDGS (control group); (2) the diet containing 30% corn DDGS (DDGS-fed group); (3) the diet containing 30% corn DDGS and 10 g kg^-1 CLA (CLA-fed group); (4) the diet containing 30% corn DDGS and 1 g kg^-1 BET (BET-fed group). Dietary DDGS decreased the proportion of saturated fatty acids (SFA) (PB0.05), and increased the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (P<0.05) in pork with respect to the control group, whereas dietary CLA and BET decreased the proportion of PUFA and increased the proportion of SFA in pork compared with DDGS-fed group. Pork treated with DDGS alone had higher total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) value (P<0.05) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value (P<0.05) with respect to the control diet during display, whereas CLA-fed group and BET-fed group had lower TVB-N concentration and TBARS value (P<0.05) in pork than DDGS-fed group. There was no significant difference of instrumental color (L*, a*, b*) between DDGS-fed group and the control group (P>0.05). However, CLA-fed and BET-fed groups maintained lower L* values and higher a* values (P<0.05), but did not affect b* values with respect to the DDGS-fed group and the control group. Results confirmed that diets containing 30% DDGS have some adverse effects on pork freshness and lipid peroxidation; However, supplementation with CLA or BET can partially reverse these effects and improve color image of pork during display.