Chemical and physical quality traits of meat from heavy pigs fed diets with a partial to total replacement of soybean meal with spirulina powder.

This study investigated the impact of replacing soybean meal (SBM) with Spirulina platensis (SP) on meat quality of heavy pigs. Eighty-8 gilts and barrows were fed from 52±4 to 175±6 kg body weight a control diet (C), based on cereals and SBM, or 3 experimental diets, formulated by replacing 33% (SP1), 66% (SP2) or 100% (SP3) SBM with SP (2 pens per diet). Feeds were isoenergetic, isoproteic, and iso-amino acidic. Samples of loin, lard and subcutaneous fat from hams were collected and analyzed for pH, color, shear force, proximate composition, and fatty acid profile. Data were analyzed with a linear mixed model including the fixed effects of sex, diet, and their interaction, and the random effect of pen within diet. Diet did not affect meat quality traits, with few exceptions: CIE a*, CIE b* and Chroma were greater in SP3 than in C (P<0.05); likewise was CIE b* in the ham’s subcutaneous fat from SP3 than from C (P<0.05). Similarly, loin cooking losses was 7.8 % greater in SP3 than in C (P<0.05). A diet-related effect was also found for arachidonic acid in ham’s subcutaneous fat (P<0.05), with greater content for SP2 and SP3 than for C. In conclusion, confirming the evidence found for growth and carcass traits, the full replacement of SBM with SP exerted minimal effects also on meat quality traits. Further research is needed to assess the impact of SP on the technological and sensorial quality of the dry-cured ham. This study was carried out within the Agritech National Research Center and received funding from the European Union Next-Generation EU (PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA (PNRR) – MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2, INVESTIMENTO 1.4 – D.D. 1032 17/06/2022, CN00000022).