Dietary cinnamaldehyde supplementation improves the growth performance, oxidative stability, immune function, and meat quality in finishing pigs

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of cinnamaldehyde in feed on growth performance, oxidative stability, immune function, and meat quality in finishing pigs. Sixty pigs (Duroc x Landrace x Yorkshire; body weight = 70.10 +/- 3.01 kg) were used in this study. The pigs were randomly allotted to three treatments (four replicates (pens) with five pigs per pen), control diet (basal diet), basal diet + 40 mg cinnamaldehyde and basal diet + 80 mg cinnamaldehyde per kg of feed. The results showed that dietary cinnamaldehyde increased pigs' average daily gain(ADG), M. longissimus dorsi area(LA), pH(24h), water maintain rate and serum interleukin 2 (IL-2)content (P < 0.05), and decreased average backfat thickness, shear force, intramuscular fat, marbling Score, glycolytic potential (P <0.05). Cinnamaldehyde significantly increased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) (P <0.05), while malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity decreased (P <0.05). In addition, cinnamaldehyde decreased the activities of glycolytic enzymes phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) (P < 0.05). These results demonstrated that dietary cinnamaldehyde could improve growth performance and ameliorate meat quality of finishing pigs by improving the living immunity, enhancing antioxidant capacity, and reducing glycolytic capacity of meat.