Challenges and future perspectives for the European grading of pig carcasses - A quality view.

This study sought to evaluate pig carcass grading, describing the existing approaches and definitions, and highlighting the vision for overall quality grading. In particular, the current state of pig carcass grading in the European Union (SEUROP system), its weaknesses, and the challenges to achieve more uniformity and harmonization across member states were described, and a broader understanding of pig carcass value, which includes a vision for the inclusion of meat quality aspects in the grading, was discussed. Finally, the noninvasive methods for the on-line evaluation of pig carcass and meat quality (hereafter referred to as pork quality), and the conditions for their application were discussed.

The effect of immunocastration of male and female Duroc pigs on the morphological, mechanical and compositional characteristics of pork belly.

Pork belly is an important and heterogeneous cut, characterized by its fat content. Immunocastration is an alternative to surgical castration that can modify the composition of carcasses and cuts and it can affect at its processing. This work compares the morphological, mechanical and compositional characteristics of pork belly of (1) pure Duroc pigs from surgically castrated males (CM), entire females (EF) and immunocastrated females (IF), and (2) Duroc crossbreed pigs from immunocastrated males (IM) and entire males (EM).

A matter of body weight and sex type: Pig carcass chemical composition and pork quality.

This study compares minced carcass chemical composition and meat quality of castrated (CM), immunocastrated (IM) and entire male (EM), and female (FE) pigs at 70, 100 and 120 kg target body weights (TBW) (n = 80; 20 per sex). Sex affected fat, protein, and moisture content of the minced carcasses. Carcass fatty acid (FA) composition was affected by sex, with higher saturated and monounsaturated FA content in CM than in FE, IM and EM, and higher polyunsaturated FA in CM than in EM, with FE and IM in between.

Productive performance and in vivo body composition across the growing and finishing period and carcass traits in pigs of four sex types.

This study compares performance, body and carcass composition among castrated (CM), immunocastrated (IM) and entire males (EM), and females (FE) at 30, 70, 100 and 120 kg of body weight (total of n = 92; 20-24/sex type). Overall, IM had similar growth and feed intake to CM and greater than EM and FE. At each slaughter stage, IM had a lower killing-out percentage than CM and FE, in line with their heavier liver and kidneys.

Understanding consumers' perceptions towards Iberian pig production and animal welfare.

The Spanish market offers a greater variety of Iberian pork products. The aim of this paper is to determine the perception of consumers of several aspects of Iberian pig production and animal welfare depending on the consumers' characteristics. Consumers from two Spanish regions (n = 403) answered a questionnaire about their beliefs and the importance of pig production, their purchase intentions and their willingness to pay.

Automatic ham classification method based on support vector machine model increases accuracy and benefits compared to manual classification.

The thickness of the subcutaneous fat (SFT) is a very important parameter in the ham, since determines the process the ham will be submitted. This study compares two methods to predict the SFT in slaughter line: an automatic system using an SVM model (Support Vector Machine) and a manual measurement of the fat carried out by an experienced operator, in terms of accuracy and economic benefit. These two methods were compared to the golden standard obtained by measuring SFT with a ruler in a sample of 400 hams equally distributed within each SFT class.

Effect of Environmental Enrichment and Herbal Compounds-Supplemented Diet on Pig Carcass, Meat Quality Traits, and Consumers' Acceptability and Preference.

Animal welfare can be considered an ethical attribute of product quality, but consumers should appreciate its added value. The aim of this study was to evaluate consumer's acceptability, preference, and the meat and carcass quality of pigs reared with two stress-reducing strategies: supplementation of an herbal compound (HC) containing and , and environmental enrichment (EE) by the provision of hemp ropes, sawdust, and rubber balls. A total of 56 pigs were divided in four treatments in two pens of seven pigs per treatment (2 × 2 factorial design).

Effects of breed-production system on collagen, textural, and sensory traits of 10 European beef cattle breeds.

Unlabelled: In the current study the collagen, texture, and sensory characteristics of meat from 712 yearling males of 10 local Spanish and French beef breeds raised in their typical production systems were described. The breed-production system affected collagen and texture variables but affected sensory variables only slightly. There was a large amount of intra breed-production system variation for all the variables.

On-line Ham Grading using pattern recognition models based on available data in commercial pig slaughterhouses.

The thickness of the subcutaneous fat in hams is one of the most important factors for the dry-curing process and largely determines its final quality. This parameter is usually measured in slaughterhouses by a manual metrical measure to classify hams. The aim of the present study was to propose an automatic classification method based on data obtained from a carcass automatic classification equipment (AutoFom) and intrinsic data of the pigs (sex, breed, and weight) to simulate the manual classification system.

Evolution of testes characteristics in entire and immunocastrated male pigs from 30 to 120 kg live weight as assessed by computed tomography with perspective on boar taint.

The present study addressed (1) the levels of boar taint compounds in entire (EM) and immunocastrated (IM) male pigs during their growth, (2) the evolution of testes volume and density and (3) the relationship between physical characteristics of the testes and boar taint compounds. For that purpose 24 EM and 20 IM pigs were CT scanned at several body weights (TBW). After each scanning a subsample of pigs was slaughtered, and subcutaneous fat was collected to determine androstenone and skatole concentration.

Comparison of national ZP equations for lean meat percentage assessment in SEUROP pig classification.

The objectives of the present work were (1) to compare pig carcass classification using different ZP ("Zwei-Punkt-Messverfahren") equations approved in the EU, applied on the same dataset, and to discuss the origin of differences between member states; (2) to evaluate the effect of a possible common ZP equation from the combined dataset and analyse how do the different subsets perform; and (3) to discuss the consequences of different national equations within the EU in view of the harmonization of pig carcass classification. A dataset of 951 carcasses from Belgium, France, Germany, Slovenia and Spain was used, 12 approved ZP equations in Europe were applied and the results were compared. Observed differences can be due not only to differences in genetics and sexes, but also to differences in the ZP measurement and dissection trials performed to obtain national equations.

Estimation of carcass composition and cut composition from computed tomography images of live growing pigs of different genotypes.

The aim of the present work was (1) to study the relationship between cross-sectional computed tomography (CT) images obtained in live growing pigs of different genotypes and dissection measurements and (2) to estimate carcass composition and cut composition from CT measurements. Sixty gilts from three genotypes (Duroc×(Landrace×Large White), Pietrain×(Landrace×Large White), and Landrace×Large White) were CT scanned and slaughtered at 30 kg (n=15), 70 kg (n=15), 100 kg (n=12) or 120 kg (n=18). Carcasses were cut and the four main cuts were dissected.

Identification of proteomic biomarkers in M. Longissimus dorsi as potential predictors of pork quality.

Meat quality traits have low heritability and large environmental influences. To predict, improve and manage meat quality, proteomic biomarkers are superior to genetic markers. The objectives of this research were (1) to find associations between proteome profiles of longissimus muscle at slaughter and meat quality accuracies of prediction of traits ranged from 20 up to 80%.

Effect of a high dose of CLA in finishing pig diets on fat deposition and fatty acid composition in intramuscular fat and other fat depots.

Sixteen gilts were fed a control (4% of sunflower oil) or an experimental diet (4% conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) oil). CLA had no effect on intramuscular fat (IMF) content neither in longissimus thoracis (LT) nor in semimembranosus (SM) muscles but increased liver weight, reduced perirenal fat and tended to reduce backfat between the last 3th-4th lumbar vertebrae. Despite the fact that 9c,11t and 10t,12c CLA isomers were included in the same proportion in the diet, the 9c,11t and 9c,11c were the isomers more deposited in all tissues.

SNP variation in the promoter of the PRKAG3 gene and association with meat quality traits in pig.

Background: The PRKAG3 gene encodes the γ3 subunit of adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK), a protein that plays a key role in energy metabolism in skeletal muscle. Non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in this gene such as I199V are associated with important pork quality traits. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between gene expression of the PRKAG3 gene, SNP variation in the PRKAG3 promoter and meat quality phenotypes in pork.

Do all the consumers accept marbling in the same way? The relationship between eating and visual acceptability of pork with different intramuscular fat content.

Several reports show that intramuscular fat (IMF) and/or marbling affect the sensory acceptability of meat. The aim of the present work was to (1) investigate using Spanish consumers the eating and visual acceptability of pork with different levels of IMF, (2) understand more about this acceptability by studying segments of consumers and (3) determine which fresh pork characteristics are important at the point of purchase. Loin section (n = 40) were sorted into four IMF groups: 0.

Variation in the IGF2 gene promoter region is associated with intramuscular fat content in porcine skeletal muscle.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) and subcutaneous fat (back fat-BF) are two of the major fat depots in livestock. A QTN located in the insulin-like growth factor 2 gene (IGF2) has been associated with a desirable reduction in BF depth in pigs. Given that the lipid metabolism of intramuscular adipocytes differs from that of subcutaneous fat adipocytes, this study aimed to search for genetic variation in the IGF2 gene that may be associated with IMF, as well as BF, in diverse pig breeds.

Lean content prediction in pig carcasses, loin and ham by computed tomography (CT) using a density model.

Pig carcasses (122 half carcasses, 52 hams and 52 loins) from the Spanish pig population, were obtained in a commercial slaughterhouse and scanned by computed tomography to generate a predictive model determining weight and lean content. The model is mainly based on a density correction equation. The weight prediction model used the area of the histogram of the whole half carcass in a range of -250 to +800 Hounsfield units added to 2769g corresponding to the average weight of the head and pig feet that have not been scanned.

Carcass and meat quality characteristics of immunocastrated male, surgically castrated male, entire male and female pigs.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of immunocastration on meat and carcass quality compared with meat from females, entire and surgically castrated males. One hundred and eighteen (LandracexDuroc)xPietrain crossbred pigs were assigned to four experimental groups: entire males (EM), females (FE), surgically castrated males (CM) and vaccinated males (IM). Pigs were reared in two pens per sex and slaughtered at an average of 180 days of age.

Comparison of different devices for predicting the lean meat percentage of pig carcasses.

Lean meat percentage (LMP) is the criterion for carcass classification and it must be measured on line objectively. The aim of this work was to compare the error of the prediction (RMSEP) of the LMP measured with the following different devices: Fat-O-Meat'er (FOM), UltraFOM (UFOM), AUTOFOM and VCS2000. For this reason the same 99 carcasses were measured using all 4 apparatuses and dissected according to the European Reference Method.

Relationships between biochemical characteristics and meat quality of Longissimus thoracis and Semimembranosus muscles in five porcine lines.

Five porcine genetic lines which represent a high proportion of European pig production were fully characterized for meat quality parameters and muscle biochemical characteristics (Longissimus thoracis, LT, and Semimembranosus, SM). The line characterisation was based on 100 animals each representing Large White, Landrace, Duroc, Piétrain (Halothane negative) and Meishan (a Meishan/Large White crossbred line) prevalent genetic backgrounds. Different meat quality parameters (pH 45min, pH ultimate, electrical conductivity, and colour measurements), as well as muscle water holding capacity, muscle metabolic and contractile traits, fibre type, size and frequencies were measured and their relationships studied.

Effect of different Duroc line sires on carcass composition, meat quality and dry-cured ham acceptability.

Carcasses of 399 malignant hyperthermia gene free pigs from crosses sired by three types of Duroc (Virgen de la Fuente, DU1; Diputación de Teruel, DU2; DanBred, DU3) were analyzed for carcass and meat quality. Carcass leanness and fat parameters were measured at the last rib and at the space between the 3rd and 4th last ribs counting from the last one. Weights, pH, electrical conductivity, colour and intramuscular fat were also measured.

The relationship between pig genetics, myosin heavy chain I, biochemical traits and quality of M. longissimus thoracis.

The relationship between muscle biochemical traits, myosin heavy chain I and meat quality of longissimus thoracis was studied using gilts from five divergent porcine lines (A to E) (carcass weight: 83.7±8.7 kg).