The effects of feeding pigs with conjugated linoleic acid on meat quality

Abstract

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a mixture of the geometric isomers of linoleic acid. Studies have found that feeding animals with the addition of CLA has various positive effects, such as improved feed conversion, reduction of the amount of fat tissue and improvement of the quality of the resulting meat. The reason for the great interest in this compound is also its potential health effects on humans, such as anticancer effect, enhancing the immune system, reducing the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases and the like. Feeding pigs with the addition of CLA is gaining importance in recent years, because it affects the reduction of the thickness and share of subcutaneous fat tissue and the increase of lean meat/meat yield of the carcass without negative impacts on the quality of the resulting meat. Increased content of intramuscular fat, i.e. marbling in meat and fatty-acid changes in the composition of meat have been determined. Increasing the content of saturated fatty acids in the fat and muscle tissue improves technological characteristics and oxidative stability of meat. In addition, due to the incorporation of CLA isomers in the tissues of animals and its health benefits, this type of diet can be a method for obtaining the pork with the features "of functional foods." However, all these positive effects have not been confirmed in each of the experiments focusing on feeding pigs with CLA, because there are many factors that affect its efficiency.