Creatine monohydrate supplemented in swine finishing diets and fresh pork quality: I. A controlled laboratory experiment.

Creatine monohydrate (CMH) was fed during the final stage of growth to determine its effects on fresh pork quality. Twenty-four Duroc-sired market hogs (107 kg) were individually penned and fed a corn-soybean finishing diet containing 0.55% lysine with 2% added choice white grease. Treatments consisted of a control diet (control) tested against two durations of CMH-supplemented diets (25 g CMH x pig(-1) x d(-1)) fed for 5 (5 d) or 10 (10 d) d before slaughter. Eight pigs were used per treatment. Pigs were slaughtered on day 11 of treatment (118 kg). Postmortem pH was measured in the loin (10th rib) and ham semimembranosus at 45 min (pH1) and 24 h (pH2). At 24 h, Hunter L* values were taken at the 10th rib and the ham semimembranosus. At 48 h, drip loss was determined from the loin (8th rib) and semimembranosus. Percentage of moisture, crude fat, and crude protein were determined for loin (9th rib) and semimembranosus. Treatment 2 semimembranosus tended to have a higher pH1 (P = 0.083) and pH2 (P = 0.05) than controls. Although not statistically different, 10 d semimembranosus had the highest proportion of moisture and lowest CP:moisture ratio, suggesting greater myofiber hydration. No statistical differences were detected across treatments for loin pH1, pH2, CP:moisture, or drip loss. Loins and semimembranosus from 5 d pigs had a numerically higher proportion of chemically determined i.m. fat, suggesting optimal intramuscular creatine phosphate saturation may allow for more energy to be stored as i.m. fat. Standard deviations of ham L* value means for 5 d (SD = 2.53) and 10 d (SD = 2.05) were 26 and 48% lower than controls (SD = 3.95). Standard deviations of loin L* value for 5 d (SD = 2.53) and 10 d (SD = 2.53) were 51 and 64% lower than controls (SD = 1.86). These results suggest that CMH supplementation buffers early postmortem and ultimate pH decline in the semimembranosus, which may reduce 48-h moisture loss.