The effect of dietary garlic and rosemary on grower-finisher pig performance and sensory characteristics of pork

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of inclusion of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and garlic (Allium sativum) in pig diets on apparent nutrient digestibility, pig performance, carcass characteristics and on sensory characteristics of the pork. Seventy individually-fed grower-finisher pigs (42 kg live weight) were offered one of the following diets ad-libitum: (1) control diet (based on wheat, pollard and soyabean meal), (2) control diet supplemented with rosemary at 1 g/kg (low rosemary; LR), (3) control diet supplemented with rosemary at 10 g/kg (high rosemary; HR), (4) control diet supplemented with garlic at 1 g/kg (low garlic; LG) and (5) control diet supplemented with garlic at 10 g/kg (high garlic; HG). Pigs offered diets with garlic had a lower feed intake (P < 0.01) and lower digestible energy intake (P < 0.05) compared to the pigs offered the control or rosemary diets during the grower-finisher period. Pigs offered the LG and HG diets had a better (P < 0.05) food conversion ratio (FCR) than the pigs offered the control or rosemary diets. Digestibility of dry matter and organic matter were lower (P < 0.05) for the HG diet than the LG diet. Gross energy digestibility and digestible energy concentration were lower for the HR than the LR diet. Sensory panellists found a significant difference (P < 0.001) in the sensory properties of cooked muscle from the control and HG treatments. In conclusion, the addition of garlic to the diets of grower-finisher pigs reduced feed intake and improved FCR while the addition of rosemary had no beneficial effects on growth performance or carcass characteristics.