Dietary zero-dimensional fullerene supplementation improves the meat quality, lipid metabolism, muscle fiber characteristics, and antioxidative status in finishing pigs

Simeng Liao; Guang Liu; Bie Tan; Ming Qi; Xin Wu; Jianjun Li; Xiaoqing Li; Changfeng Zhu; Jiamei Huang; Shuo Zhang; Yulong Tang; Yulong Yin

doi:10.1016/j.aninu.2022.06.017

Dietary zero-dimensional fullerene supplementation improves the meat quality, lipid metabolism, muscle fiber characteristics, and antioxidative status in finishing pigs

Anim Nutr. 2022 Aug 17:11:171-180. doi: 10.1016/j.aninu.2022.06.017. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Authors

Simeng Liao^{1

2}, Guang Liu^{1

3}, Bie Tan³, Ming Qi^{1

2}, Xin Wu¹, Jianjun Li¹, Xiaoqing Li⁴, Changfeng Zhu⁴, Jiamei Huang⁴, Shuo Zhang^{1

5}, Yulong Tang¹, Yulong Yin^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Animal Nutritional Physiology and Metabolic Process, Key Laboratory of Agro-Ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, National Engineering Laboratory for Pollution Control and Waste Utilization in Livestock and Poultry Production, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, 410125, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100008, China.
³ College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China.
⁴ Xiamen Funano New Material Technology Company, Ltd, Xiamen, 361005, China.
⁵ Yunnan Southwest Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Group, Kunming, 650217, China.

Abstract

With the increasing demand for high-quality pork, more nutritional substances have been studied for the regulation of meat quality. Zero-dimensional fullerenes (C60) can modulate the biological behavior of a variety of cell lines and animals. In this study, we report the biological effects of C60 on finishing pigs at different concentrations. A total of 24 barrows (Duroc × Large White × Landrace), with an average body weight of 21.01 ± 0.98 kg, were divided into 3 groups and each treated daily with C60 (100 or 200 mg per kg feed) or a control diet until the end of the experiment. Our results showed that dietary C60 supplementation improved flesh color, marbling scores, and flavor amino acid contents of longissimus dorsi (LD) of growing-finishing pigs (P < 0.05). C60 improved meat quality by regulating lipid metabolism and muscle fiber morphology by mediating the expression of genes, L-lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), myosin heavy chain (MyHC) IIa, MyHCIIb, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), and fatty acid transport protein 1 (FATP1) (P < 0.05). Moreover, C60 substantially promoted the mRNA expression of antioxidant enzyme genes (P < 0.05), which also contributed to improving meat quality. These findings have important implications for the application of C60 in the livestock industry, especially for improving the meat quality of fattening pigs.

Keywords: Antioxidative; Lipid metabolism; Meat quality; Muscle fiber; Zero-dimensional fullerenes.