. 2018 Jul 10;96(8):3221–3232. doi: 10.1093/jas/sky116

Table 3.

Effect of low-protein diet on meat quality in growing and finishing pig

Item^a	Dietary treatment^b			SEM	P value
Item^a	NP	LP	VLP	SEM	P value
Growing pig
pH_{45 min}	6.87	6.88	6.83	0.03	0.482
pH_{24 h}	6.32	6.34	6.35	0.02	0.541
L*	48.81	47.32	48.98	0.48	0.259
a*	13.31^b	14.14^a	13.53^b	0.19	0.020
b*	6.40^a	5.75^b	5.96^ab	0.19	0.073
Drip loss, %	2.14	2.12	1.97	0.21	0.818
Cooking loss, %	46.74	46.27	46.66	0.66	0.872
Shear force, N	31.44	30.64	27.61	1.36	0.143
Finishing pig
pH_{45 min}	6.39	6.60	6.41	0.08	0.169
pH_{24 h}	5.37^b	5.32^b	5.46^a	0.02	<0.01
L*	46.36	45.17	46.12	0.60	0.351
a*	13.16^b	14.42^a	13.23^b	0.35	0.044
b*	4.90	4.66	4.80	0.26	0.763
Drip loss, %	2.23	2.36	2.68	0.16	0.162
Cooking loss, %	46.12	45.48	47.46	0.73	0.192
Shear force, N	44.07^a	31.74^b	32.49^b	2.42	0.014

^a,bWithin a row, values with different superscript letters differ (P < 0.05).

^a L* = lightness; a* = redness; b* = yellowness.

^bDietary treatment: NP = normal protein; LP = low protein; VLP = very low protein.