Effect of environmental enrichment and herbal compounds-supplemented diet on pig carcass, meat quality traits, and consumers’ acceptability and preference
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Publication date
2018-07-16ISSN
2076-2615
Abstract
Animal welfare can be considered an ethical attribute of product quality, but consumers
should appreciate its added value. The aim of this study was to evaluate consumer’s acceptability,
preference, and the meat and carcass quality of pigs reared with two stress-reducing strategies:
supplementation of an herbal compound (HC) containing Valeriana officinalis and Passiflora incarnata,
and environmental enrichment (EE) by the provision of hemp ropes, sawdust, and rubber balls. A total
of 56 pigs were divided in four treatments in two pens of seven pigs per treatment (2 2 factorial
design). Meat and carcass quality were evaluated. Consumer’s acceptability and preference were
analysed with a sensory test and a conjoint analysis in 110 consumers. Before slaughter, control
pigs (no EE and no HC) presented lower live weight compared with other treatments (p = 0.0009).
Although acceptance was the same for all of the treatments, consumers preferred systems aiming
to increase pig welfare. The most important factor was production system, with a preference for
those improving welfare, followed by feeding system, with a preference for those with natural
herbs supplementation. Although price was the least important factor, a segment of consumers
showed a clear preference for lower prices. These results suggest that welfare improvements could
be appreciated by particular consumer segments.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
636 - Animal husbandry and breeding in general. Livestock rearing. Breeding of domestic animals
663/664 - Food and nutrition. Enology. Oils. Fat
Pages
12
Publisher
MPDI
Is part of
Animals
Citation
Casal, Nicolau, Maria Font-i-Furnols, Marina Gispert, Xavier Manteca, and Emma Fàbrega. 2018. "Effect Of Environmental Enrichment And Herbal Compounds-Supplemented Diet On Pig Carcass, Meat Quality Traits, And Consumers’ Acceptability And Preference". Animals 8 (7): 118. MDPI AG. doi:10.3390/ani8070118.
Grant agreement number
MINECO/Programa Nacional de Proyectos de Investigación Fundamental/RTA2010-00034-C02-01/ES/Evaluación de la eficiencia productiva, bienestar animal y impacto medio ambiental de una nueva tecnología de alimentación de precisión en porcino/
MINECO-FEDER/Programa Nacional de Proyectos de Investigación Fundamental/AGL2011-30598-C03-02/ES/IDENTIFICACION DE MARCADORES POTENCIALES DE ESTRES EN FLUIDOS BIOLOGICOS Y TEJIDOS EN EL CERDO/
Program
Benestar Animal
Qualitat i Tecnologia Alimentària
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- ARTICLES CIENTÍFICS [2831]
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/