Effects of On-Farm Diets for Organic Pig Production on Performance and Carcass Quality

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of a restriction to home-grown feedstuffs and abstinence from supplementation with synthetic amino acids (AA), as ideal objectives in organic pig production according to the IFOAM standards, on growth performance and carcass characteristics. One hundred individually housed pigs were allocated to four dietary treatments and fed from growing through finishing to compare three organic barley/wheat-based diets with an isocaloric conventional diet supplemented with synthetic AA. Protein sources in the organic treatments were either faba beans, supplemented with potato protein to the same AA level as the control diet (FA+PO), peas and lupines (PE+LU) or faba beans and lupines (FA+LU), both without further supplementation, leading to a lower level of limited AA. Amino acid supplementation with potato protein showed the same performance compared with the conventional diet, supplemented with synthetic AA, although crude protein levels differed markedly. Pigs fed the organic diets without AA supplementation grew more slowly (P < .05), had a decreased feed intake in the grower period (P < .05) but nearly the same feed efficiency (P .05) compared to conventional or organic diets with AA supplementation. Carcass characteristics differed in percentage of lean meat and longissimus area, being lower in the treatments without AA supplementation (P < .05). However, the intramuscular fat was higher without AA supplementation (2.9% fat) than with supplementation (1.2% fat) (P < .01). The data show that the exclusion of AA supplementation resulted in a reduction in pig performance but in an increase in intramuscular fat content (IMF), the latter is an important aspect of eating quality characteristics. (SUNDRUM, A., L. BÜTFERING, M. HENNING and K.-H. HOPPENBROCK (2000): Effects of On-Farm Diets for Organic Pig Production on Performance and Carcass Quality. J. Animal Sci. 78, 1199-1205.

Implications of genotype and amino acid sup-ply on pork quality

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different feeding regimes and genotypes on growth performance, carcass characteristics, composition and eating quality of pork under organic framework conditions. 198 individually housed pigs of 4 genotypes were allocated to three dietary treatments. Feeding regimes differed in relation to the supply of limiting amino acids (AA). The genotypes used were Pi x (DL x DE); Du x DL, Pi x German Swabian Hall (Pi x SH) and pure SH breed. While Pi x (DL x DE) pigs showed the highest carcass yields, pigs of the genotype Du x DL achieved higher values in dlwg and in meat composition compared to the other genotypes. Performance traits were significantly influenced by the feeding regime. Lean meat percentage and area of M.l.d. were significantly lower when a diet reduced in limited amino acids compared to the control treat-ment was fed. Backfat thickness was not influenced by the feeding regime. However, intramuscular fat content clearly increased when a diet without AA supplementation was fed. The results indicate that the limited availability of high quality feedstuffs in organic farming does not impair but improve the preconditions to produce pork of high eating quality

Auswirkungen der Rohproteinversorgung auf die Qualität von Schweinefleisch

The current experiment was conducted to specify the effect of different diets on the quality of pork with emphasis on the intramuscular fat content in the M. longissimus. The results confirm the preliminary conclusions of a former experiment that it is possible to affect the amount of intramuscular fat content by a feeding strategy adapted to the organic framework conditions without increasing the overall fat content of the carcass

NEGATIVE ION IMAGING IN FIELD ION MICROSCOPY

Field ion microscopy with negative ion imaging has been successfully performed using organic image gases of high electron affinity such as tetracyanoethylene (TCNE). Pure ion images without contributions from field electrons are obtained in a rather broad range of field strengths since field electron emission is suppressed by the field induced formation of a polymer layer from image gas molecules. Under condensation of TCNE on the field cathode surface, unusual ring structures are observed in the ion image. The origin of these structures is not yet clear

FIELD ION EMISSION FROM LIQUID SOLUTIONS : ION EVAPORATION AGAINST ELECTROHYDRODYNAMIC DISINTEGRATION

In several ionization techniques currently applied in organic mass spectrometry a mechanism of field induced ion evaporation from charged droplets is assumed to play a dominant role in the desolvation of ions from liquids. This ion evaporation mechanism is briefly discussed regarding its competition with electrohydrodynamic disintegration of the surface of the liquid droplet under field stress. It is shown that ion evaporation is unlikely to occur for most solute/solvent systems and of no significance in the formation of gaseous ions. In contrast electro-hydrodynamic disintegration processes can contribute to the desolvation of ions from charged droplets