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Effects of Organic Chromium Yeast on Performance, Meat Quality, and Serum Parameters of Grow-Finish Pigs

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Abstract

Trivalent chromium (Cr) is an essential trace element for humans and animals. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of chromium(III) yeast (CrYst) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat traits, antioxidant status, immune traits, and serum biochemical parameters of grow-finish pigs. A total of 72 commercial hybrid barrows (Duroc × Landrace × Large White) of approximately 50 kg body weight were allocated into two dietary treatments randomly, which received a corn-soybean meal basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with 100 mg CrYst/kg. The trial duration was 11 weeks divided into three periods from body weights of 50–75 kg, 75–100 kg, and 100–110 kg, respectively. The results revealed that supplemental CrYst did not affect growth performance. Organic CrYst supplementation significantly decreased the backfat depth and increased the meat tenderness score and juiciness score values in pigs (P < 0.05), while other carcass traits and meat traits indexes were unaffected. CrYst addition significantly decreased serum malondialdehyde (MDA) content of pigs in the whole growth phase; significantly increased the serum levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and reduced glutathione (GSH) in growing pigs; and also increased the serum IgG, IgM, and GSH concentrations in pigs during the finishing phase (P < 0.05). Additionally, diets supplemented with CrYst significantly decreased the serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) content in growing pigs and significantly increased the serum LDL-C level at the fattening period (P < 0.05), whereas no significant differences were observed for the other serum biochemical indexes compared to the control pigs. In conclusion, CrYst supplementation could reduce lipid peroxidation and backfat thickness and improve the meat tenderness and juiciness, immune traits, and antioxidant status of pigs.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Science & Technology Support Program of Sichuan Province (grant number 2021YFYZ0030) and the China Angel Yeast Co., Ltd.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 611130, Sichuan, China

    Yunhan Liu, Bin Huo, Kun Wang, Lingjie Huang, Lianqiang Che, Bin Feng, Yan Lin, Shengyu Xu, Yong Zhuo, Caimei Wu, De Wu & Zhengfeng Fang

  2. College of Food Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya’an, 625014, Sichuan, China

    Zhengfeng Fang

  3. China Angel Yeast Co., Ltd., Yichang, 443005, Hubei, China

    Zhongping Chen

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  1. Yunhan Liu
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  2. Bin Huo
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  3. Zhongping Chen
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  4. Kun Wang
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Correspondence to Zhengfeng Fang.

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The authors declare potential conflict of interest, given that ZP Chen is an employee of Angel Yeast Co., Ltd., one of financial supporters of the present study.

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Yunhan Liu and Bin Huo contributed equally to this work and are co-first authors.

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Liu, Y., Huo, B., Chen, Z. et al. Effects of Organic Chromium Yeast on Performance, Meat Quality, and Serum Parameters of Grow-Finish Pigs. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 1188–1196 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03237-z

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