Conjugated linoleic acid pork research

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition 2004-06, Vol.79 (6S), p.1212S-1216S
• Main Authors: Dugan, M.E.R, Aalhus, J.L, Kramer, J.K.G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adipose tissue; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; animal performance; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Body Composition; carcass composition; carcass yield; color; conjugated linoleic acid; dietary fat; drip loss; Fatty acids; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Food Industry; Food, Fortified; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; glycogen; Hogs; lactates; lean meat; Linoleic Acids, Conjugated - administration & dosage; Marketing; Meat - economics; meat production; Meat Products - economics; meat quality; Pork; Quality Control; shear strength; Swine - physiology; swine feeding; Tissues; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; water content
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/79.6.1212S

The driving force behind most conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) research in swine has been related to potential improvements in animal production. Early work that used rodent models indicated that feeding CLA could potentially reduce body fat, increase lean content, increase growth rate, and improve feed conversion efficiency. Producer-backed funding organizations were, therefore, receptive to proposals to extend this research to pigs, and many studies have been completed worldwide. In general, improvements in body composition were found, but evidence indicating that CLA improves growth rate or feed conversion was limited. Inclusion of CLA into pig diets was, however, shown to increase muscle marbling fat and fat hardness, and both of these characteristics have the potential to increase carcass value. Currently, Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik AG (BASF) has the international marketing license to include synthetic CLA in animal feeds, but to date this practice is not approved in Canada or the United States. If and when approval is granted, the next step in realizing CLA's economic potential would be to seek approval for claiming CLA enrichment in pork and pork products. Given the ability of swine to accumulate relatively high amounts of CLA in their tissues, pork and pork products could become an important vehicle for delivery of physiologically significant amounts of CLA to consumers.