Effects Of Compound Chinese Medicine Additives On Growth Performance And Meat Quality Of New Jilin Black Pigs

Chinese Herbal Medicine is characterized by high safety,green and functional diversity.Combining the theory of traditional Chinese Medicine and modern nutrition,Radix astragalus,ginseng root,codonopsis,hawthorn,tangerine peel and red dates in appropriate proportions were combined to form Compound Chinese Herbal Medicine Additives,and 0.50%of them were added into the base diet of New Jilin Black Pigs to explore its effects on growth performance and meat quality of finishing pigs.In the feeding experiment,40 New Jilin Black Pigs with an average body weight of75.68±3.28 kg at late finishing stage were randomly divided into 2 groups（control group and experimental group）with 5 replicates per group and 4 pigs per replicate.The control group was fed with commercial formula diet,and the experimental group was fed with 0.50%Compound Chinese Herbal Medicine at the basal diet level.The pigs were pre-fed 7 days,until the feeding weight reaches 115 kg,the slaughtering can be free to drink and eat during the whole process,which is strictly implemented in accordance with the feeding and management mode of pig farm.The starting weight and final weight of pigs were recorded at the beginning and at the end of the experiment.During the experiment,the feed dosage and residual amount were recorded to calculate the growth performance indexes of the test pigs.At the end of the experiment,4 pigs in each group were selected for slaughter test to determine the relevant carcass indexes and meat quality indexes.The test results are as follows:（1）Growth performance:Compared with the control group,the average daily gain of experimental group was significantly increased by 12.43%（P<0.05）;The ratio of feed to gain was decreased by 8.76%（P<0.05）,and the average daily feed intake had no significant change（P>0.05）.（2）Apparent digestibility:Compared with the control group,the apparent digestibility of crude protein and gross energy in experimental groups was significantly increased by 6.91%and 2.37%（P<0.05）.There was no significant difference in the apparent digestibility of crude fiber and crude fat（P>0.05）.（3）Serum biochemical indices:Compared with the control group,the contents of TP and ALB in serum of experimental groups were significantly increased by 4.77%and 9.22%（P<0.05）,while the levels of GLB,A/G and BUN were not significantly different（P>0.05）.（4）Serum hormone indexes:Compared with the control group,the serum GH content in experimental group was significantly increased by 26.08%（P<0.05）,the level of T4 was significantly increased by 11.02%（P<0.05）,and the contents of INS,IGF-1,T3 and SS had no significant differences compared with the control group（P>0.05）.（5）Serum antioxidant indices:Compared with the control group,the serum T-AOC in experimental group was significantly increased by 16.70%（P<0.05）,the content of MDA was significantly decreased by 31.47%（P<0.05）,and the activities of CAT,SOD and GSH-Px in experimental group were not significantly changed compared with the control group（P>0.05）.（6）Serum immune indices:Compared with control group,IgA level in experimental group was increased by 15.09%（P<0.05）;There were no significant differences in the contents of IgG and IgM compared with control group（P>0.05）.（7）Carcass index:Compared with the control group,the carcass oblique length of finishing pigs in experimental groups was increased by 7.99%（P<0.05）,and the carcass weight and dressing percentage were increased by 7.96%and 4.67%（P<0.05）,respectively.There were no significant differences in carcass straight length,backfat thickness,skin thickness,eye muscle area,hoof weight,lean meat percentage and bone percentage（P>0.05）.（8）Meat quality indexes:Compared with the control group,a^*value of meat color in experimental group at 24 h was significantly increased by 55.73%（P<0.05）,L^*value,a^*value and b^*value of meat color at 1 h,and L^*value and b^*value at 24 h had no significant changes（P>0.05）;The p H_1h and p H_24h values of control group and experimental group were in the normal range,and there were no significant changes（P>0.05）.Tenderness and intramuscular fat of experimental group were improved,but there were no significant changes（P>0.05）,and there were no significant differences in pressed water,drip loss,centrifugal water loss rate and cooked meat rate（P>0.05）.（9）Texture characteristics:There were no significant differences in adhesion,cohesiveness,elasticity,cohesiveness,stickiness,chewability and hardness between test group and control group（P>0.05）.（10）Economic benefit:Compared with the control group,the economic benefit of each finishing pig in the experimental group increased by 38.48 yuan.These results indicate that the addition of compound Chinese medicine additive can improve the growth performance and meat quality of new Jilin black pigs in a certain range.