Effects of dietary alpha-tocopheryl acetate supplementation on alpha-tocopherol deposition in porcine m psoas major and m longissimus dorsi and on drip loss, colour stability and oxidative stability of pork meat

The effect of feeding supra-nutritional levels of alpha-tocopheryl acetate on its deposition in two porcine muscles of different metabolic rates (m. longissimus dorsi and m. psoas major) and the effect on meat quality (lipid oxidation, colour stability and drip loss) was studied. Pigs were fed a standard diet supplemented with three levels: 100, 200 and 700 mg/kg of alpha-tocopheryl acetate from the time of weaning to slaughter at 90 kg live weight. Muscle alpha-tocopherol levels were linearly related to the logarithm of dietary alpha-tocopheryl acetate supplementation and the linear relationship was estimated for the two muscles. The levels of alpha-tocopherol in the two muscles differed by a parallel displacement with consistently higher alpha-tocopherol levels in m. psoas major compared to m. longissimus dorsi. Dietary alpha tocopheryl acetate supplementation significantly reduced lipid oxidation as measured by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in both raw and cooked meat during storage at 4 degrees C for 6 days. Drip loss and colour stability of raw muscles were not affected by dietary alpha-tocopheryl acetate levels, 100 mg alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg feed resulted in sufficient alpha-tocopherol levels in muscles to ensure minimum drip loss and optimum colour stability. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.