Abstract
The present study was conducted to determine the dietary effects of ether extract level on the production of high quality pork using eco-feed mainly composed of breadcrumb. Twenty cross bred fattening pigs (LWD) (average body weight 70 kg) were allotted to control (ether extract F : 3.4%, lysine/crude protein ratio L : 0.04) and four types of eco-feed groups : combination of two levels of F (13.0%, 6.5%) and two levels of L (0.04, 0.03). Pigs were slaughtered at over 110 kg live weight and carcass characteristics and meat quality were evaluated. No significant differences existed in feed consumption and feed conversion ratio between the control and eco-feed groups. Ether extract level had a major effect on reducing fattening period and increasing daily gain (P<0.05), especially in F 13%+L 0.04. No significant differences existed in carcass characteristics between the control and eco-feed group. The content of intramuscular fat of the longissimus muscle was higher in the eco-feed groups (4.1-5.1%) than in the control group (3.0%), and it was higher in F 6%+L 0.03. There was no significant difference in meat color, fat color, degree of marbling, refractive index and melting point of backfat between the control group and eco-feed group. The C14 : 0 content of backfat was affected, but no significant differences existed in melting point, and refractive index. In conclusion, to produce pork with a high degree of marbling, these results indicated that the ether extract content as well as the lysine/crude protein ratio are important for growth and meat quality.
