Influence of breed, season and gender on chemical composition and meat quality of pigs

Abstract

The effect of breed, gender and the farrowing season on the variability of pork quality traits was examined in the present study. The observed properties were the pH value (pH45 and pH24) of the Longissimus dorsi muscle (LD) and Semimembranosus muscle (SM), the chemical composition (water, fat, ash and protein content), the water binding capacity, the colour and thickness of the LD fibres. In the present study, the influence (P lt 0.05) of the farrowing season for both measured pH values in SM was established, as well as significant influence (P lt 0.01) on pH24 in LD, while the other factors did not influence the pH of the muscles tested. The established difference in the mean values of water content in LD between fatteners SW and LWxSL (0.69%) was statistically very significant (P lt 0.001) while the influence of genotype and sex of fatteners was not determined for fat, ash and protein content. The genotype of fatteners influenced the ability to bind water (P lt 0.001) and the meat colour (P lt 0.05) while the muscle thickness was not affected (P> 0.05).