Effects of Dietary Fermented Persimmon Diet on the Meat Quality of Fattening Pigs

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of fermented persimmon diet on the meat quality of fattening pigs. Pigs (75 kg) were grouped and housed as 15 animals per pen and 3 replications per treatment. The basal diet (C) was substituted with 3% (T1), 5% (T2) and 10% (T3) of fermented diet. The 180 pigs were fed experimental diet for 42 d and 10 longissimus dorsi (LD) per treatment were collected when each swine reached 105.6 kg of body weight. The crude fat concentration of LD was lower (p < 0.05) in treatments, but the pH value of T3 and the shear force values of T2 and T3 were higher (p < 0.05) than those of C. The CIE L* value (lightness) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in T2 and T3 than C, but the CIE b* (yellowness) of T2 and T3 was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than C. The composition of myristic acid and oleic acid was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in treatments than in C, while the composition of palmitic acid and stearic acid of treatments were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than C in LD. Sensory evaluation of cooked meat as scores of aroma, taste, juiciness and overall acceptability showed higher (p < 0.05) in treatments than in C. In conclusion, the dietary of fermented persimmon diet decreased the crude fat concentration, improved the fatty acids composition (increased composition of unsaturated fatty acid and decreased composition of saturated fatty acid) and improved the sensory evaluation of pork meat from fattening pigs.