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Daidzein (DAI) is a natural active compound of isoflavone, mainly presented in leguminous plants and is considered a phytoestrogen. Daidzein has shown beneficial effects on growth performance and meat quality of several species, but there is no clear evidence showing an exact relationship between the dose and its effects. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary DAI supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality in growing-finishing pigs at different doses. For this purpose, seventy-two DLY (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) male castrated growing-pigs were randomly assigned to four treatments, and fed with a basal diet (CON) or basal diet containing different doses of DAI (12.5, 37.5, and 62.5 mg/kg). One pig per pen (6 per treatment) with an average body weight was selected to collect blood samples for determination of biochemical and antioxidant parameters and hormone analysis. The same animals were used for the measurement of liver, carcass characteristics, meat quality and gene expression analysis from liver and longissimus thoracis samples.
Results showed that DAI supplementation significantly increased the average daily gain (ADG). Moreover, DAI elevated serum insulin-like growth factors-1 (IGF-1), testosterone concentrations, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). The highest dose of DAI supplementation (62.5 mg/kg) significantly increased the intramuscular fat (IMF) content but reduced the fat content in liver. The drip loss and shear force were both decreased in pigs treated with 62.5 mg/kg DAI. Animals fed with DAI had higher expression of MyHC I and lower expression of MyHC IIb in longissimus thoracis. Supplementation of DAI downregulated phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) but upregulated fatty acid synthase (FASN) and acetyl CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1) genes in longissimus thoracis. In the liver, DAI elevated the expression level of glucokinase (GCK) but decreased the expression level of ACC1.
These results not only indicate a beneficial effect of dietary DAI supplementation on growth performance but also offer potential mechanisms behind the DAI-regulated meat quality in pigs.
Sun ZW, Li DF, Li Y, Chen DW, Yu B, Yu J, Mao XB, Zheng P, Luo YH, Luo JQ, He J. Effects of dietary daidzein supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality in growing-finishing pigs. Animal Feed Science and Technology. 2020; 268: 114591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2020.114591
