Performance and meat quality in pigs fed hydrolysable tannins from Tara spinosa

This study aimed to assess the effect of dietary tara (Tara spinosa (Feuillée ex Molina) Britton & Rose) hydrolysable tannins on performance and meat quality of finishing pigs. Twenty barrows (crossbred PIC × Piétrain; age: 125 ± 5 d; bodyweight: 60.8 ± 3.89 kg) were randomly assigned to two groups and fed ad libitum for 7 weeks a control diet (CON) or a diet supplemented with 10 g/kg of tara tannins (TAT), respectively. No differences (P > 0.10) on growth performance and carcass traits were observed between the two groups. Meat fatty acid profile was not affected (P > 0.10) by the diet, but the content of C22:5 n-3 tended to be lower (P = 0.079) in TAT pork. Dietary tannins tended to reduce (P = 0.095) meat cholesterol. The diet had no effect (P > 0.10) on fat-soluble antioxidant vitamins, hydrophilic antioxidant capacity, catalase activity, and glutathione peroxidase activity. Superoxide dismutase activity tended to be lower (P = 0.087) in TAT meat than in CON meat. Dietary tannins did not affect (P > 0.10) backfat and meat color development during 6 days of refrigerated storage, but TAT meat tended to be darker (P = 0.082). Meat from pigs fed tara tannins showed lower (P = 0.028) hydroperoxides content and a tendency toward lower conjugated dienes (P = 0.079) and malondialdehyde (P = 0.084) contents. Also, dietary tannins delayed lipid oxidation in meat subjected to oxidative challenges such as catalysis and cooking (P < 0.05). The positive effect of dietary tara hydrolysable tannins on lipid oxidation was likely due to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity, but it may have been mitigated by the high α-tocopherol content in meat.