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INVESTIGATOR: Ezekwe, M. O.; Liao, S. F.; Walker, C. R.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY
ALCORN STATE, MISSISSIPPI 39096

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF PURSLANE AS FUNCTIONAL FEED FOR PRODUCTION OF OMEGA-3 HEALTHY PORK

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The prevalence of obesity worldwide is a big contributing factor to the high mortality of patients, especially, of cardiovascular diseases. Consumers today are more intelligently seeking alternative nutrient supplies to balance diets for their health and fitness. Although commonly known as a weed in the US, purslane is eaten as a vegetable in many other countries. Preliminary animal and human studies have shown that purslane beneficially improved blood lipid profile and body fat compositions, which can be attributed to its highest omega-3 fatty acid content amongst leafy vegetables. Increasing omega-3 fatty acid, while reducing cholesterol, levels in pork will provide nutritional benefits to humans. This project will be conducted to reach four objectives: (1) A dose-response study with experimental diets containing 0, 4, 8, and 16% purslane meal will be conducted with 144 finishing pigs to determine the optimal level of purslane inclusion to reduce pig blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels while enriching omega-3 fatty acid content in pork. (2) These 144 finished pigs will be slaughtered at 100 kg body weight to examine carcass quality, meat/sensory quality, and fatty acid profiles of fat and lean tissues. (3) Study the effect of dietary purslane on the expression of five key genes/mRNAs involved in lipid metabolism. (4) Two graduate students will be recruited and trained for conducting this joint research project. The significant impact of this project is on its synergistic benefits to pork quality and human health while providing new opportunities for the socioeconomic wellbeing of agricultural communities.

OBJECTIVES: The overall objective of this project is to evaluate the use of an under-utilized crop, purslane, as a functional feed for production of value-added pork enriched with omega-3 fatty acids (omega-3 pork). At the same time, this project will also be conducted to enhance/build the research and education capacities in the field of Animal Nutrition and Production at ASU. Specific objectives include the following: (1) Determine the optimal level of purslane inclusion in swine diet required to reduce blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels in swine and to enrich omega-3 fatty acid content in pork. It is hypothesized that higher levels of purslane present in swine diets will elicit greater omega-3 fatty acid storage to a certain level, and this objective is to evaluate and determine the optimal level of purslane supplementation needed to maximize pork/meat omega-3 fatty acid content. (2) Determine the carcass and meat qualities of the pork from the market hogs fed purslane supplemented diets. We hypothesized that purslane fed to pigs will reduce the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in pork, and also increase the leanness of carcass and the meat-eating quality as well. Production of omega-3 pork with the same or better sensory quality will definitely attract more health-conscious consumers. (3) Explore the molecular mechanisms by which purslane alters lipid metabolism in animal tissues. Substantial amount of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidant vitamins justifies the studies to determine the effect of this vegetable on lipid metabolism in animal tissues. This specific objective is to study the effect of dietary purslane on the expression of key genes involved in lipid metabolism in liver, muscle, and adipose tissues. At least four genes (five mRNA species), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha (PPARalpha), PPARgamma, lipoprotein lipase (LPL), sterol-regulatory-element binding protein 2 (SREBP-2), and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) will be studied. (4) Train graduate students to conduct comprehensive scientific project. At least two students with Animal or Meat Science undergraduate background will be recruited to join this project to pursue their MS degrees in Animal Science, Meat Science, or Molecular Animal Nutrition.