Abstract

Essential oils can improve meat quality, but their instability limits their application. The development of eutectic essential oils presents a promising strategy to address this limitation. This study hypothesized that dietary supplementation with thymol and carvacrol eutectic essential oils (TCEO) would improve growth performance, meat quality, and antioxidant capacity in finishing pigs. The results showed that dietary TCEO supplementation improved growth performance, as evidenced by increased final body weight and average daily gain, and a reduced feed-to-gain ratio. Regarding meat quality, TCEO maintained optimal pH, enhanced tenderness, and reduced drip loss and L * value. Additionally, TCEO elevated the content of glutamic acid, alanine and C20:1n9. Analysis of antioxidant parameters revealed increased CAT activity, reduced MDA content, and upregulated expression of NQO1 and CAT in muscle. These results suggested that dietary TCEO supplementation was associated with enhanced growth performance and meat quality in pigs, thereby providing a novel perspective for the application of plant essential oils in swine production.