A study was performed by D.G. Lim of Jinju Health College in South Korea and co-authors at Seoul National University and Sunchon National University to determine the quality characteristics of the loins and the butts from three different two-way crossbred pigs: Yorkshire×Landrace (YL), Yorkshire×Berkshire (YB) and Yorkshire×Chester White (YC).

Their study has been published on line in the journal, Livestock Science.

The pH of YB was higher than the others in loins but lower in butts.

Drip loss, cooking loss and water-holding capacity (WHC) of the YB loins were better than the others (p<0.05).

YC loins had the lowest fat contents among crossbreds but there was no difference for the butts.

The shear force of YL was higher than YB or YC in both loins and butts (p<0.05).

The CIE colour and TBARS values of the two cuts, however, did not significantly differ by crossbred.

YB and YC loins had higher content of linoleic acid (C18:2n-6), PUFA, and n-6 than the YL. Stearic acid (C18:0) and arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6) in YB loins were lower than the others (P<0.05). PUFA content of YC and YB butts was significantly higher than YL (P<0.05).

Free amino acids such as alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, glycine, isoleucine, leucine and valine in YC loins were lower than the others (P<0.05). YL loins had higher content of free glutamic acid than YB (P<0.05). YC loins had lower content of free aspartic acid than the others (P<0.05). YB butts had lower content of free alanine, histidine and threonine than the others, while they had higher arginine (P<0.05).

The meat quality parameters of the two-way crossbreds will provide basic information for pig improvement with increased meat quality, Lim and co-authors concluded.

Reference

Lim D.G., C. Jo, K.S. Seo and K.C. Nam. 2014. Comparison of meat quality of loins and butts in different two-way crossbred pigs. Livestock Science. Available online 21 December 2013.

January 2014