Functional foods are innovative products that hold health-enhancing potential. They are contributing to changing trends in both consumer behavior and the market. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of breed on the nucleic acid content, amino acid profile, carcass, and meat quality of different breeds of chickens. The outcomes of which could lead to the production of functional chicken meat. In this experiment, 4 genotypes of chicken, namely commercial broilers (CBR), Thai native chickens (Mae Hong Son; MHS), Thai native chickens (Pradu Hang Dam; PHD), and male layer chickens (MLC), were fed commercial feed and reared under identical conditions. All chickens were slaughtered at the market age, whereas the breasts and thighs were separated from the carcasses to determine chemical composition and meat quality. The results indicated that carcass and meat quality traits were significantly different (P < 0.05) among chicken breeds and meat parts. Notably, commercial breeds (CBR and MLC) were superior in performance and carcass quality when compared with the Thai native chickens (MHS and PHD). CBR had the highest growth performance and carcass quality traits (P < 0.01), whereas MHS exhibited the lowest weight gain (P < 0.05). However, Thai native chickens were lower in fat, cholesterol, triglycerides, purine, and uric acid (P < 0.05) contents than the commercial breeds. Interestingly, MHS contained the lowest purine and malondialdehyde levels when compared with the other breeds (P < 0.01). Moreover, MHS contained the highest amounts of glutamic acid in both the breasts and thighs (P < 0.05). Therefore, the meat of MHS may be classified as a functional chicken meat, as it was found to have a pleasant meaty taste and hold nutritional value, which positively influences consumers' health.

This study determined the effects of deep bedding floor and fermented feed supplement on the growth performance, carcase, meat quality, and fatty acid profile of crossbred pigs. Thirty-two ((Thai native × Meishan) × Duroc) crossbreds were organised in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement in a completely randomised design. Factor A was a deep bedding floor (DB) or solid bedding of concrete floor (SB). Factor B was a feed type of concentrate feed supplemented with a fresh banana stem (BF + CON) or fermented banana stem (FF + CON). Growth performance, carcase traits, chemical composition, meat quality, and fatty acid profile were determined. The final weight, average daily gain, and feed conversion ratio of pigs reared on SB were significantly higher than those of pigs raised on DB. The backfat thickness and loin eye area of SB pork were also higher than those of DB pork (p < .05). Feed type had an effect on the percentage of rib, fat content, and TBARS on days 0, 1, and 3. FF + CON feed were lower, but shear force value and a grilling loss percentage of FF + CON were higher than those of BF + CON. The effect of the interaction between floor and feed types was found in the belly of four lean cut and rib percentage, fat content, and pH value in the longissimus dorsi muscle at 24 h and TBARS on Days 0, 1, 3, and 7 (p < .05). Pigs on the DB floor showed inferior carcase composition but slightly better meat quality than pigs raised on SB.

This study was conducted to find out the effects of perilla cake (PC) supplementation in a low-lysine diet on Thai crossbred finishing pigs’ productivity, carcass and meat quality, and fatty acid composition. For six weeks, a total of 21 barrows of finishing pigs were fed with three dietary treatments (T1: basal diet, T2: 2.5 percent PC supplementation in a low-lysine diet, and T3: 4.5 percent PC supplementation in a low-lysine diet). The results show that the intramuscular fat and marbling score was significantly increased by T2 and T3. On the other hand, it was found that the boiling loss and shear force value were significantly decreased by T2 and T3 (p < 0.05). In a low-lysine diet, dietary PC supplementation caused a significant increase in malondialdehyde levels in meat (p < 0.05) compared with the basal diet. It was also shown that alpha-linolenic acid level in backfat and the longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle was increased considerably by T2 and T3. Therefore, supplementing PC in a low-lysine diet may be an alternative strategy for improving the meat quality of late-phase pigs.

Post-weaning performance of piglets from systems where lactation is disrupted (e.g. from multisuckling systems) is superior to conventionally reared piglets. The objective of this study was to establish whether restricted growth prior to weaning caused by disruption of suckling was an important factor in post-weaning performance and also whether there were related changes in gastro-intestinal development. Ten litters of eight piglets were used in a split-plot design. Half of each litter (limited suckling, LS) had suckling disrupted by separation from their dam for 7 h/day from day 14 to 28 after farrowing. The remainder of each litter was allowed to suck normally (normal suckling, NS). The same amount of creep feed was offered to LS piglets as consumed by NS littermates on the previous day. There were no differences in weight between LS and NS piglets at 14 days of age, but restricting access to the sow reduced weaning weight at 28 days of age (7.96 v. 9.00 kg; LS v. NS; P < 0.01; s.e.d. 0.23). Feed intakes were greater for LS than NS piglets over the first 28 days post weaning, particularly in the 1st week after weaning when feed efficiency was also improved (0.91 v. 0.62 kg gain per kg feed; P < 0.01; s.e.d. 0.08). As a result, LS piglets grew more rapidly in the first 28 days post weaning, particularly in the first 7 days after weaning. Subsequent performance to 8 weeks was similar for both groups. Digestive organ weights were not different at 2 and 9 days after weaning; nor were small intestine specific enzyme activities significantly different ( P>0.05). Pancreatic trypsin activity was, however, greater ( P < 0.01) for LS pigs on both days 2 and 9 post weaning. In conclusion the restriction of growth as a result of limited suckling itself is an important factor in determining post-weaning performance and may be related to development of pancreatic trypsin activity.

CONTEXTGrowing-finishing pig housing-system decisions involve coupled economic, animal-welfare, health, manure-management and environmental trade-offs. Deep-bedded systems are often proposed as welfare- and sustainability-oriented alternatives to conventional confinement, but adoption depends on capital investment, bedding availability, management burden, performance effects, policy incentives and market willingness to pay. Bedding-material choice can also change faster than housing investment, creating a two-timescale decision problem.OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to develop an evidence-informed two-stage evolutionary modelling framework for deep-bedded housing transition in growing-finishing pig production and to examine how short-run bedding-material choice can interact with long-run housing adoption under alternative economic, welfare-premium and manure-emission policy scenarios.METHODSPeer-reviewed and technical evidence on deep-bedded pig housing, bedding materials, welfare, performance, costs, manure handling and emissions was identified through a structured PRISMA-guided search with reference validation. Extracted evidence was used to define model structure and incremental payoff components rather than to calibrate empirical parameters. The model separates slow transition from conventional confinement to deep-bedded housing from faster selection of bedding materials among adopters. Payoffs were specified relative to confinement and included capital investment, bedding cost, labour, feed or performance, health, manure-management, space, welfare-premium and environmental-policy terms. Scenario simulations explored how welfare premiums, bedding-cost support and manure-emission mitigation incentives altered adoption dynamics and bedding-material composition.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSIllustrative simulations indicated that bedding-material choice can meaningfully alter long-run adoption dynamics. Welfare premiums or bedding-cost support alone produced limited uptake when input-cost constraints and market saturation were imposed. In contrast, integrated support combining market recognition of welfare, reduced bedding-cost pressure and manure-emission mitigation improved the feasibility of deep-bedded adoption and allowed rice husk and straw to coexist as alternative bedding strategies. The findings indicate that deep-bedded housing should be interpreted as a conditional transition pathway rather than as a universally superior or inferior production system. The framework is therefore best used as a transparent scenario-analysis tool until farm-level economic, welfare, performance and emissions data are available for empirical calibration.SIGNIFICANCEThe structured model links evidence synthesis with evolutionary decision analysis and clarifies how housing investment, bedding supply, welfare valuation and environmental policy may co-evolve in pig production. It provides a reproducible conceptual basis for policy testing, farm advisory work and future data collection on bio-based bedding and sustainable livestock housing transitions.