Abstract
The incidence of PSE (pale, soft and exudative) pork meat is directly influenced by pre-slaughter handling of animals, compromising meat quality and resulting in economic losses for industry. Considering management, the main extrinsic stress factors are: the pre-slaughter rest time in lairage, the total fasting time and at farm and the transport time. To evaluate the effects of these factors on PSE meat incidence, pH of 1038 carcasses was measured at 45 minutes post mortem (pH45) in a pig slaughterhouse in Paraná, Brazil. Carcasses with pH45≤5.8 were classified as PSE, and those with pH45>5.8 as normal. In order to verify if the factors influence PSE meat appearance, it was divided into categories according to it duration, and according to the number of animals evaluated in each category, the PSE meat frequency was estimated, and which time intervals obtained the lower incidence of the change. The total incidence of PSE carcasses was 19.17%. The periods of rest in lairage, total fasting, fasting at farm and transport that minimized the occurrence of PSE meat were from 04h01 to seven hours, from 14h01 to 17h00, from 03h01 to five hours, and from 02h01 to three hours, respectively.
Highlights
In order to comply with the new consumer market requirements, started to produce swine with high production of lean muscle thought the interaction of genetic enhancement, health improvements, nutrition and production systems
A total of 1038 carcasses from 35 randomly selected lots were evaluated during September of 2017 in a pig slaughterhouse located in the region of Campos Gerais, state of Paraná, Brazil, with a slaughtering capacity of 3000 heads per day
All animals came from cooperated farms of the slaughterhouse, with an average live weight of 116 kg, non-free genetics of halothane gene, of both sexes, and the males were surgically castrated
Summary
In order to comply with the new consumer market requirements, started to produce swine with high production of lean muscle thought the interaction of genetic enhancement, health improvements, nutrition and production systems. In addition to the desirable increase in lean meat production, there were changes in biochemistry and substantial composition of muscles. These changes responsible for formation of pale, soft and exudative (PSE) meat, were caused by appearance of the Pork Stress Syndrome (PSS). Because of the high sensitivity of animals to stress, there is an excessive glycogen burning in musculature shortly before or shortly after slaughter This causes higher concentration of lactic acid and rapid reduction of muscle pH, while carcass temperature is still high. There are actions of proteases that denature muscle proteins, resulting in PSE meat (Barbut et al 2008)
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