Effects of genotypes and crossbreeding on the quality parameters of dry-cured shoulders from different Iberian genetic pig lines

Abstract

Iberian pigs are a porcine breed, in which is very important to obtain a genetic line showing a larger prolificacy and performance of valuable parts, without affecting the meat quality. The main objective of this work was to estimate genetic and crossbreeding effects on quality parameters on dry-cured Iberian shoulders from the different genotypes of the Iberian pigs. For that, three Iberian pigs’ varieties (Entrepelado, Retinto and Torbiscal) and their reciprocal crosses were used. Thus, three genetic lines showed the best results: (i) the Retinto genetic line (R×R) showed the results with the highest mean values in MUFA (56.02%) and the lowest in salt content (3.12%), which could have a useful genetic basis for the improvement; (ii) the crossed genetic line between Torbiscal and Entrepelado (T×E) is characterized for a high value of myoglobin (9.05 mg/g) that it is related to some sensory attributes (flavor persistence − 5.82- and juiciness − 6.02-); (iii) the crossed genetic line between Retinto and Entrepelado (R×E) is characterized for a high content of lipids (8.32%), which is related to high scores on some sensory attributes (fat oiliness − 6.64-, juiciness − 6.24- and odour intensity − 6.86-). Therefore, these three genetic lines of Iberian pig based on terms of quality are adequate to produce meat and meat products from the Iberian pigs, outstanding R×R genetic line of Iberian pig.