A research team led by Professor Kong Xiangfeng from the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture Ecology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered a new strategy to improve pork quality by modulating the gut microbiota, potentially bridging the gap between the high-yield meat quality of commercial pigs and the superior meat quality of Chinese indigenous pigs.

Based on two recent comparative studies of pork quality between Chinese indigenous pigs and commercial pig breeds, the researchers found that the gut microbiota plays a key role in shaping muscle characteristics through the gut-muscle axis.

The results indicate that Chinese indigenous pig breeds, such as Taoyuan Black Pigs and Rural Black Pigs, develop a higher proportion of endurance-type (slow-twitch) muscle fibers due to their unique gut microbial characteristics—a critical factor for tenderness and flavor.

A previous study was published in the journal Food & Function in 2023. The current study has been published in the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes.

A key finding is that Lactobacillus in the colon was identified as one of the potential regulators. Lactobacillus in the colon converts dietary tryptophan into kynurenic acid (a gut bacteria-derived metabolite that activates the AMPK/PGC-1α signaling pathway in muscle tissue). This cascade reaction essentially reprograms muscle fibers to the slow-twitch type, thereby enhancing meat quality traits such as water-holding capacity and intramuscular fat content.

Notably, fecal microbiota transplantation from Chinese indigenous pigs transferred these traits to mice, providing direct evidence that the gut microbiota directly influences muscle biology.