We examined the effects of blending ratios of brown rice in diets containing barley and residual from processed tea on growth performance and meat quality of finishing pigs under high ambient temperatures. Brown rice ground to less than 2 mm was used as substitute for corn in the diet. Total of 24 castrated LWD pigs were used in this study. The pigs were divided into 4 groups, which were fed with experimental diets containing brown rice at the ratio of 0, 10, 20, and 40%, and these diets contained 15% barley and 1% tea residual. The pigs were housed three per pen during the summer season with body weight averages from 70.9 kg to 110 kg. In growth performance, although no significant difference was observed, feed conversion ratio was lower as the blending ratio of brown rice was increased. In carcass traits, 10% brown rice blend group had significantly lower carcass yield in comparison with 0% brown rice blend group. The back fat thickness (loin) of the 10% brown rice blend group was significantly lower than that of the 0% brown rice blend group. Those of 20% and 40% brown rice blend groups had also lower values but significant differences were not observed. In meat quality such as water holding capacity and fat melting temperature, a significant difference was not observed. However, shear value of the 40% brown rice blend group was significantly lower than that of the 20% brown rice blend group. In fatty acid composition of subcutaneous fat, palmitic acid of the 40% brown rice blend group was higher than that of the other groups, and oleic acid of the 40% brown rice blend group was also higher than that of the 0% and 10% brown rice blend group. In free amino acid composition of loin, no significant difference was observed. For oxidative stress markers, 20% and 40% brown rice groups had high levels of the plasma total anti-oxidative status and low levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), though no significant difference was observed.

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The low motility of sperm after thawing has been a problem in artificial insemination (AI) using frozen-thawed boar semen. A cause of low functionality of post-thawed sperm, sperm oxidative stress is induced by freezing and/or thawing stimulus. Thus, in this study, we examined whether the sperm motility parameters after freezing and thawing improved with the addition of N-acetyl L-cysteine (NAC), an antioxidant, to the thawing solution. Firstly, frozen semen was incubated in Modena solution with (0.5 or 5.0 mM) or without (control) NAC for up to 3 hr, and the sperm motility parameters (motility rate and progressive velocity at 0, 1 and 3-hr) and membrane status (membrane and acrosomal integrity at 3-hr) of each group were measured. Furthermore, in order to investigate the effect of the addition of NAC on the sperm ROS (reactive oxygen species) activity, its level was analyzed by flow cytometer using Total ROS/Superoxide Detection Kit. The motility rate of sperm treated with 5.0 mM NAC was significantly higher than that of the control at 3-hr incubation (P<0.05, 24.2 vs. 42.9%), and the NAC treatment improved sperm progressive velocity as compared with the control after 1-hr incubation (P<0.05, 1 hr;22.5 vs. 39.0 μm/s, 3 hr;16.7 vs. 35.0 μm/s). For the motility parameters, it was only in the control that the values decreased with time (P<0.05). On the other hand, the additional of NAC did not affect the membrane status such as plasma membrane and acrosomal membrane integrity (P>0.05). Because the addition of 5.0 mM NAC improved the sperm motility parameters after thawing, we examined whether 5.0 mM NAC would actually suppress sperm ROS activity with flow cytometer. In the result, intense fluorescence signal of the total ROS activity was detected in the control at 3-hr incubation, as the NAC treatment significantly suppressed it (P<0.05). It was suggested that this suppression was due to the direct antioxidant activity of NAC or indirect influence with stimulation of glutathione synthesis by NAC. From these results, we concluded that the addition of 5.0 mM NAC to the thawing solution protected sperm from ROS activity, and improved its motility parameters.

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In order to obtain information on chemical composition of rice for forage harvested in production sites, we analyzed chemical compositions of 25 samples (14 varieties) of brown rice and 17 samples (10 varieties) of unhulled rice harvested in 2008 and 2009. Further, we determined fat acidity of brown rice and unhulled rice after kept at either 28°C 80% or 4°C. All the chemical compositions analyzed were different between the brown rice and the unhulled rice (P<0.01). Contents of gross energy, crude protein, crude fat, and total phosphorus were higher in the brown rice while those of crude ash, calcium, and neutral detergent fiber were higher in the unhulled rice. Contents of essential amino acids of the brown rice were higher than those of the unhulled rice (P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between the content of crude protein and that of total phosphorus both in the brown rice and the unhulled rice (P<0.05). Fat acidity of the rice grains kept at 28°C 80% was higher than that of the rice grains kept at 4°C (P<0.01). Fat acidity of the brown rice was higher than that of the unhulled rice (P<0.01). On the other hand, fat acidity of the unhulled rice did not change even though kept at 28°C 80%. The positive correlation between the content of crude protein and that of total phosphorus suggested that higher input level of fertilizer resulted in higher content of crude protein. When the rice grains are kept without control of temperature and humidity, it is advisable to keep as unhulled rice.

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