Recently, saccharicterpenin extracted from Camellia oleifera seed meal has become a widely used feed supplement in animal husbandry.  In order to assess its safety, this study was designed to investigate the toxicity and histopathological effects of saccharicterpenin on piglets.  One hundred-fifty weaned pigs ((Yorkshire×Landrace)×Duroc), 75 males and 75 females with body weight (BW) of (7.35±0.29) kg, were randomly allotted to groups receiving diets supplemented with 0, 500, 1 000, 2 500 or 5 000 mg kg^–1 saccharicterpenin for 70 d.  The diet with 500 mg kg^–1 saccharicterpenin supplementation improved liver glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity, and the diet with 1 000 mg kg^–1 saccharicterpenin supplementation improved liver glutathione S-transferase (GSH-S) activity in piglets on d 70 (P<0.05).  At 2 500 mg kg^–1, saccharicterpenin in the diets reduced average daily feed intake (ADFI) and average daily gain (ADG) of piglets from d 1 to 35, damaged the cardiac tissue and liver on d 35, and decreased white blood cell counts (WBC), activities of catalase (CAT) and GSH-Px, and concentrations of glucose (GLU) and urea nitrogen (BUN) in the blood of piglets on d 70 (P<0.05).  In addition, diets with 5 000 mg kg^–1 saccharicterpenin supplementation reduced ADFI, ADG and increased diarrhea rates of piglets from d 36 to 70, and decreased hemoglobin (HGB) concentration and activity of CAT in the blood of piglets on d 70 (P<0.05).  Moreover, at a rate of 5 000 mg kg^–1, saccharicterpenin supplementation increased pancreas index on d 35 and hepatic index on d 70, and damaged cardiac tissue, liver and spleen during the whole experimental period (P<0.05).  These results suggested that dietary 500 mg kg^–1 saccharicterpenin supplementation had beneficial effects on piglets, but excessive supplementation
(2 500 or 5 000 mg kg^–1) of saccharicterpenin in the diets could lead to growth retardation, hematological abnormalities and organ injuries.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaves powder (MLP) supplementation on meat quality of finishing pigs.  A total of 40 Duroc×Landrace×Yorkshire pigs (initial body weight of (40.5±0.63) kg) were randomly allotted into two treatments, fed either with control diet or 15% MLP diet for 85 d.  The results showed that MLP diet decreased (P≤0.05) average daily gain (ADG) and increased (P<0.05) feed/gain ratio (F/G) in the finishing and whole period.  MLP diet also decreased (P<0.05) carcass weight, dressing percentage, last rib and average backfat depth.  However, MLP diet increased (P<0.05) intramuscular fat (IMF) content, decreased (P<0.05) shear force, cooking loss and drip loss.  In addition, MLP diet increased (P<0.05) total antioxidative capacity, glutathione peroxidase and tended (P<0.10) to increase total superoxide dismutase in serum.  In longissimus thoracis, myosin heavy chain (MyHC) I and IIa mRNA levels were increased (P≤0.05) for MLP diet.  In conclusion, 15% MLP supplementation reduced the growth performance and carcass traits, but improved meat quality of finishing pigs possibly through the change of myofiber characteristics, enhancement of antioxidative capacity and increase of IMF.