Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of dietary inclusion of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in hog feed on quality indicators of pork loins. A total of twenty barrows (PIC 380 x Cambrough 1025) were randomly paired, housed in pens, and fed 1% soybean oil or 1% CLA diet for 6 weeks. There were no significant differences in proximate composition of the pork loins (P > 0.05). Muscle pH increased and there were color changes over time (P < 0.05) which was independent of diet (P < 0.05). Shear force decreased over time (P=0.017), with CLA loins having lower shear force than the control (P = 0.032). These results indicate that CLA supplementation of finishing diets resulted in pork quality similar to that of traditional diets.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.