Studies on Vitamin E and Meat Quality. 1. Effect of Feeding High Vitamin E Levels on Time-Related Pork Quality

The objective of this work was to study the influence of vitamin E (as all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate) supplementation on the sensory quality of pork as a function of cold storage at 4 °C. Two dietary treatments were compared: (1) 60 mg of vitamin E/kg of feed from 20 to 100 kg live weight; and (2) 60 mg of vitamin E/kg of feed from 20 to 45 kg live weight and 200 mg of vitamin E/kg of feed from 45 to 100 kg live weight (10 and 11 weeks preslaughter). Meat quality was evaluated by sensory analysis and by instrumental techniques such as loin area determination, drip loss measurement, color determinations, and induced thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) values. Vitamin E supplementation has a beneficial effect on the sensory data (freshness, tenderness, and juiciness and on the oxidative stability of pork as measured by induced TBARS values. Keywords: Meat; sensory quality; vitamin E