Effects of Sex,Feed and Pre-slaughter Routines on Technological Meat Quality in Carriers and Non-carriers of the RN − allele

The aim of this project was to study the effects of feeding system (dry or wet feeding with whey), dietary lysine level and pre-slaughter routines on technological meat quality in entire male, female and castrated male pigs, which were carriers or non-carriers of the RN ^? allele. The feeding system only affected the yield of processed meat, resulting in lower Napole yield (87.5% vs 89.4%) for meat of whey fed pigs. Further, lower dietary lysine levels resulted in higher drip loss of the meat compared with high dietary levels (5.3% vs 4.8%). Mixing of unfamiliar pigs prior to slaughter led to meat with lower internal reflectance values (28.3 vs 32.2) and glucose+G-6-P concentrations of the meat juice (46.3 vs 49.7 μmol/ml) compared with pen-wise slaughtering. In comparison with non-carriers, RN ^? carriers had significantly lower ultimate pH, shear force values and water-holding capacity. Mixing of non-carrier pigs prior to slaughter gave higher Napole yield compared with those handled pen-wise. Females had lower ultimate pH and higher Napole yield compared with entire males.     

Regional Ileitis in Pigs Isolation of Campylobacter from Affected Ileal Mucosa

In the last few years special interest has been focused on enteric diseases localized to the lower alimentary tract, especially the ileum of weaned pigs. An increasing frequency of disorders of unknown aetiology described as regional ileitis (Emsbo 1951), necrotic enteritis (Jubb & Kennedy 1970), and intestinal adenomatosis (Rowland et al. 1973) has been reported. The changes include thickening of the ileal mucosa with hypertrophy of the muscular wall. The normal structure of villi is replaced by a proliferation of crypt cells. Necrosis of the mucosa and granulation-tissue proliferation in the submucosa occur in later stages. Regional ileitis in man (Crohn et al. 1932) which is described as a chronic enteric disease with granulomatous inflammatory changes localized to segments of the ileum is also attracting increasing attention in medical research (Liljefors 1972). The lesions are also found in the colon, and the presence of a transmissible agent involved in the aetiology of Crohn''s disease has been discussed on the basis of animal experiments (Cave et al. 1973). The disease in pigs is accompanied by haematological changes, including decreased concentration of total serum protein, albumin, alkaline phosphatase, and zinc (Martinsson et al. 1974, 1976).     

Avenanthramide content and related enzyme activities in oats as affected by steeping and germination

Samples from three different oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivars, Vista, Gem and Dane were steeped and germinated in a pilot plant malting system. The content of avenanthramides, antioxidant compounds unique to oats, and some unknown compounds as well as the activities of the avenanthramide-synthesising enzyme hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:hydroxyanthranilate N-hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HHT) and the avenanthramide-oxidizing enzyme phenoloxidase (PO) were measured. An increase in avenanthramide content of germinated seeds, as compared to raw grains, was observed for Dane (125%, p < 0.001) and for Vista (29%, p = 0.007). The HHT activity increased 62% (p = 0.014) in Dane, whereas no change was detected in Vista and Gem. The PO activity decreased slightly during the germination process for Gem (p < 0.001) and Vista (p = 0.005). Many of the unknown compounds increased significantly during germination in all three cultivars, and one of them was identified to be the avenanthramide N-(4′-hydroxy-3′-methoxy-(E)-cinnamoyl)-5-hydroxy-4-methoxyanthranilic acid. This study indicates that a highly controlled steeping and germination process can be a valuable method to increase the content of endogenous avenanthramides in oats.     

Non-deep simple morphophysiological dormancy in seeds of the weedy facultative winter annual Papaver rhoeas

Embryos in freshly matured seeds of the facultative winter annual Papaver rhoeas are underdeveloped and physiologically dormant; thus, seeds have morphophysiological dormancy (MPD). Seeds lost physiological dormancy during 12 weeks of burial in moist soil at 12 h/12 h daily alternating temperature regimes of 15/5°C, 20/10 °C and 25/15 °C but not at 1 °C. Physiological dormancy was not broken in seeds stored dry at room temperature for 12 weeks. After physiological dormancy was broken, seeds required light for embryo growth (i.e. for loss of morphological dormancy) and consequently for germination. After a 12-week period of burial in soil at 25/15 °C, seeds that matured in 1997 germinated to 100% in light at 25/15 °C, demonstrating that cold stragification temperatures (≈ 0.5–10 °C) are not required for embryo growth. Thus, seeds have non-deep simple MPD. During exposure to low winter temperatures (5/1 °C, 1 °C), 52% of the seeds with physiologically non-dormant embryos entered conditional dormancy and thus lost the ability to germinate at 25/15 °C but not at 15/5 °C or 20/10 °C. The peak of germination for seeds sown in southern Sweden was in autumn, but some also germinated in spring. A higher percentage of seeds that matured in a relatively warm, dry year (1997) came out of MPD and germinated than did those that matured in a relatively cool, wet year (1998) at the same site.