Effects of dietary hop (Humulus lupulus L.) β‐acids on quality attributes, composition and oxidative stability of pork meat

BACKGROUND The effects of dietary levels of hop β‐acids on physical attributes, lipid oxidation and chemical composition of pork meat were evaluated. Thirty‐two castrated male pigs obtained from a complete block design feeding experiment (6.23 ± 0.42 kg initial body weight (BW) to 20.45 ± 0.95 kg final BW) and fed diets supplemented with 0, 120, 240 or 360 mg kg−1 hop β‐acids during 35 days were slaughtered to sample longissimus dorsi muscle for meat analysis. RESULTS No effects (P > 0.05) of dietary hop β‐acids were observed on meat physical attributes. Quadratic effects (P < 0.05) of hop β‐acids were observed on lipid and protein contents and on thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substance (TBARS) values of meatballs, whose equations allowed the estimation of dietary hop β‐acid levels of 176, 169 and 181 mg kg−1 to provide up to 16.20% lipid reduction, 1.95% protein accretion and 23.31% TBARS reduction respectively. CONCLUSION Dietary hop β‐acids fed to pigs might reduce lipid, increase protein and reduce lipid oxidation without affecting physical attributes of the pork meat. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry