Dietary Iron in Swine Rations Affects Nonheme Iron and TBARS in Pork Skeletal Muscles

ABSTRACT Fifteen crossbred pigs (mean wt = 25 kg) were allocated to three groups and fed to market weight (mean wt = 103 kg) on corn‐soy based diets containing either 62,131, or 209 ppm iron. After slaughter, the longissimus dorsi (LD) and rectus femoris (RF) muscles were dissected, cooked, and stored in oxygen‐permeable bags for 12 days at 4°C. Cooking increased thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) but did not affect nonheme iron (NHI) or α‐tocopherol. NHI and TBARS increased continuously during storage while α‐tocopherol decreased. NHI and TBARS were higher in cooked pork from pigs fed high‐iron diets. Liver iron correlated with muscle iron (p<0.05).