Dietary Tea Polyphenols Improve Meat Quality of Finishing Pigs by Enhancing Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Modulating Gut Microbiota.
4 affiliations
- 1Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Nutrition and Breeding for High-Quality Animal Products, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
- 2Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition, Ministry of Education, Hangzhou 310058, China.
- 3Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science (Eastern of China), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Hangzhou 310058, China.
- 4Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Jiaxing 314050, China.
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary tea polyphenols (TPs) supplementation on growth performance and meat quality. A total of 120 pigs ([Yorkshire × Landrace] × Duroc) aged 150 days with similar body weights (74.29 ± 0.55 kg), comprising equal numbers of females and castrated males, were randomly assigned to two treatments, each with three pens of 20 pigs: The Control group received a basal diet, and the TP group received the basal diet supplemented with 2000 mg/kg tea extract containing 15% TP. A 7-day adaptation preceded the 60-day feeding period. At the end of the experiment, the final bodyweight of the pigs was measured and six pigs per treatment were selected for sampling. The results showed that: (1) growth performance did not differ significantly, although feed-to-gain ratio and average daily feed intake were numerically lower in the TP group; (2) carcass weight, backfat thickness, and muscle alanine increased, whereas longissimus dorsi lightness and yellowness decreased (p < 0.05); (3) serum total superoxide dismutase and hepatic catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities increased (p < 0.05); (4) Chao1 richness and Shannon diversity were unchanged, and genus-level PCoA showed partial but non-significant separation of the colonic microbial communities (R = 0.1685, p = 0.090). Nevertheless, TP supplementation selectively altered specific bacterial taxa, with lower relative abundances of Pseudomonadota, Escherichia-Shigella, and Ligilactobacillus and higher relative abundances of Solobacterium, norank_f__p-2534-18B5_gut_group, and [Ruminococcus]_gauvreauii_group; and (5) Catenisphaera was positively correlated with serum total superoxide dismutase activity (p < 0.01), whereas the TP-enriched norank_f__p-2534-18B5_gut_group was positively correlated with muscle alanine content (p < 0.05). This study demonstrates concurrent antioxidant, meat-quality, and microbial responses to a TP-containing diet, supporting mechanistic research on a potential gut-liver-muscle association and refinement of supplementation strategies that balance antioxidant benefits with carcass fat deposition.
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BibTeX
@article{yu2026dietary,
title = {{Dietary Tea Polyphenols Improve Meat Quality of Finishing Pigs by Enhancing Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Modulating Gut Microbiota.}},
author = {Zhixin Yu and Luhao Tian and Yanzhe Zhang and Haoneng Guo and Zhixuan Zhang and Lexuan Shi and Zengzhuang Yuan and Zeqing Lu and Yizhen Wang and Yuanzhi Cheng},
journal = {Animals : an open access journal from MDPI},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ani16193135},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883104},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Dietary Tea Polyphenols Improve Meat Quality of Finishing Pigs by Enhancing Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Modulating Gut Microbiota.
AU - Zhixin Yu
AU - Luhao Tian
AU - Yanzhe Zhang
AU - Haoneng Guo
AU - Zhixuan Zhang
AU - Lexuan Shi
AU - Zengzhuang Yuan
AU - Zeqing Lu
AU - Yizhen Wang
AU - Yuanzhi Cheng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
DO - 10.3390/ani16193135
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883104
AB - This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary tea polyphenols (TPs) supplementation on growth performance and meat quality. A total of 120 pigs ([Yorkshire × Landrace] × Duroc) aged 150 days with similar body weights (74.29 ± 0.55 kg), comprising equal numbers of females and castrated males, were randomly assigned to two treatments, each with three pens of 20 pigs: The Control group received a basal diet, and the TP group received the basal diet supplemented with 2000 mg/kg tea extract containing 15% TP. A 7-day adaptation preceded the 60-day feeding period. At the end of the experiment, the final bodyweight of the pigs was measured and six pigs per treatment were selected for sampling. The results showed that: (1) growth performance did not differ significantly, although feed-to-gain ratio and average daily feed intake were numerically lower in the TP group; (2) carcass weight, backfat thickness, and muscle alanine increased, whereas longissimus dorsi lightness and yellowness decreased (p < 0.05); (3) serum total superoxide dismutase and hepatic catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities increased (p < 0.05); (4) Chao1 richness and Shannon diversity were unchanged, and genus-level PCoA showed partial but non-significant separation of the colonic microbial communities (R = 0.1685, p = 0.090). Nevertheless, TP supplementation selectively altered specific bacterial taxa, with lower relative abundances of Pseudomonadota, Escherichia-Shigella, and Ligilactobacillus and higher relative abundances of Solobacterium, norank_f__p-2534-18B5_gut_group, and [Ruminococcus]_gauvreauii_group; and (5) Catenisphaera was positively correlated with serum total superoxide dismutase activity (p < 0.01), whereas the TP-enriched norank_f__p-2534-18B5_gut_group was positively correlated with muscle alanine content (p < 0.05). This study demonstrates concurrent antioxidant, meat-quality, and microbial responses to a TP-containing diet, supporting mechanistic research on a potential gut-liver-muscle association and refinement of supplementation strategies that balance antioxidant benefits with carcass fat deposition.
SN - 2076-2615
ER -