ARTICLE FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE December 2022 53 betaine supplementation increased amino acid content of breast muscle, decreased drip loss and affected color. Moreover, there was an increase in muscle antioxidant activity (by higher enzyme activity and reduced MDA), which can further improve meat quality. PORK The use of betaine additives has the potential to improve pork quality. Pigs supplemented with betaine had detectably increased betaine levels in their muscle tissue (Matthews et al., 2001). Compared to control pigs, supplementation can double the betaine concentration in loin muscle as presented in figure 2 (Yang et al., 2009). A dosage dependent effect could be observed in plasma and muscle betaine concentration (Hwang et al., 2009). This higher presence of betaine in the muscle influences the quality properties of pork. Matthews et al. (2001a) showed that betaine supplementation increased initial pH and decreased drip loss of muscle in pigs. Factors such as stocking density might however show interactions with the beneficial effect of betaine on meat quality (Matthews et al., 2011b). It is also assumed that meat color can be intensified by betaine supplementation, attributed to the observed increased muscle myoglobin levels (+14.8%) in finishing pigs (Wang et al., 2000). RUMINANTS In ruminants (beef cattle, lambs and goats), betaine also has an effect on meat quality. Although discussion exists about the effect of rumen passage on betaine’s availability for the animals, still positive effects can be observed with unprotected betaine sources in ruminants. A recent study in lambs (Jin et al., 2021), showed that betaine affected meat quality by reducing water loss. This was obtained both by supplementing betaine in rumen protected and unprotected forms. In finishing Wagyu beef steers, a combination of betaine-biotin-chromium fed for 98 days before slaughter did not impact meat quality parameters. Inclusion of 7g/day of betaine during this limited period only, was possibly too low. Fernández et al. (1998) showed that dietary betaine decreased the subcutaneous fat of lamb carcass by 11%, suggesting that betaine inhibits the accumulation of extramuscular fat. Moreover, the improvement in the water-holding capacity of muscles was observed in another study by Dong et al. (2020) in lambs. FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS Not only nutrition of the slaughtered animals, but also maternal nutrients play a vital role in offspring’s traits. Changing the diet of the sow can influence the meat quality of the offspring as the type of muscle fiber is determined during the fetal period. The study by Cheng et al. (2021) in mini pigs indicated that dietary betaine can regulate the expression level of genes related to muscle fiber and to regulatory factors that influence the growth and development of skeletal muscle. Moreover, Dong et al. (2020) found influences of betaine on gene expression in different tissues in lambs. TO CONCLUDE Meat quality becomes more and more important. Multiple factors have an influence, and specifically nutritional strategies are of interest to ameliorate both nutritional and sensory meat characteristics. Betaine has proven in this literature review to be a useful strategy in improving multiple meat quality parameters, especially under heat stress conditions, in various animal species. Therefore, application of betaine additives at an appropriate dosage in the feed can be considered to beneficially influence the quality of meat products.
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