Abstract
Simple SummaryPork quality has become an important parameter in the industry. Traditional pork quality was assessed postmortem. It is considered that the determination of meat quality in live pigs is beneficial in order to obtain better pork quality and to reduce cost in production. In the present study, myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms in both of the pre- and postmortem longissimus thoracis muscle were evaluated as novel parameters for meat quality estimation in pork by correlation and clustering analysis. MHC isoforms in live pigs could be applied in a practical and useful method to predict meat quality in pork.Estimating meat quality prior to slaughter will be beneficial for the rapid identification of specific traits or poor quality pork compared to a conventional assessment at postmortem. In this study, we identified and quantified myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms from a biopsied longissimus thoracis muscle of pigs, and determined their correlation with postmortem muscle fiber characteristics and meat quality. MHC slow and fast isoforms proportions from biopsied samples correlated with postmortem percentage of type I and type IIB muscle fibers, respectively (p < 0.05). The percentage of the biopsied MHC slow isoform showed a positive correlation with pH at 45 min postmortem, and negative correlations with filter-paper fluid uptake and drip loss in pork (p < 0.05). Furthermore, clustering the pigs into three groups based on the biopsied MHC isoform proportions was not only significantly associated with muscle fiber number and proportions of muscle fiber area, but also correlated with pH at 45 min postmortem and the National Pork Producers Council color score (p < 0.05). Collectively, our findings indicate that the biopsied MHC isoforms serve as parameter for estimating meat quality, with the association between the higher proportion of MHC slow isoforms and pH at 45 min postmortem in particular being indicative of better pork quality.
Highlights
The measurement of meat quality has become an important criterion for establishing standards for pork production and consumption
myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms in biopsied longissimus thoracis (LT), and muscle fiber characteristics (MFC) and meat quality in postmortem LT, were measured from a total of 668 pigs
Regarding its relationship with meat quality, the percentage of MHC slow isoform in the biopsied muscle showed a positive correlation with pH at 45 min postmortem, and was negatively correlated with the ratio of the MHC fast to slow isoforms and drip loss. These findings indicate that the MHC isoforms measured in the biopsied LT are highly correlated with the MFC and meat quality determined in postmortem samples
Summary
The measurement of meat quality has become an important criterion for establishing standards for pork production and consumption. Estimation of meat quality from live animals can, for example, confirm genetic analysis by facilitating the identification of pigs containing specific genetic traits within a shorter. Animals 2020, 10, 9 period of rearing until slaughter [1], and can be used to avoid the production of pigs prone to pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) meat [2]. The criteria used for assessing meat quality include pH, meat color, water-holding capacity, cooking loss, and tenderness. Various measurement methods have been introduced for the improvement of these traits, including the use of different breeds and adopting different feeding and pork management strategies [3]. The aforementioned criteria depend upon skeletal muscle fiber characteristics (MFCs), including muscle fiber number and size and fiber-type composition [4,5]
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