Abstract
A total of 200 Duroc × (Landrace × Large White) pigs intended for Protected Designation of Origin Teruel dry-curedham manufacture was used for the study. The objective was to investigate the effect of gender (barrows and gilts) andslaughter weight (SW; 120, 125, 130, 135 or 140 kg) on Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle characteristics and the fatty acid (FA) profile of the subcutaneous fat. The LD from barrows had higher intramuscular fat (P<0.01), b* value (P<0.01),colour intensity (P<0.01 for c* and P<0.05 for Hº) and tenderness (P<0.05) than the LD from gilts. Fat from barrows had a higher saturated FA content (P<0.01) a lower polyunsaturated (P<0.001) and unsaturated FA content (P<0.01) than fat from gilts. On the other hand, intramuscular fat was increased (P<0.05) but moisture and L* (P<0.05), thawing (P<0.001) and cooking losses (P<0.01) decreased as SW increased. Polyunsaturated FA content decreased (P<0.001) and saturated FA proportion tended to increase (P<0.10) as the SW increased. It was concluded that barrows and gilts were adequate for both fresh meat and dry-cured ham production. An increase in SW from 120 to 140 kg impairs subcutaneous fat quality but improves some loin characteristics which are desirable for Teruel dry-cured pork production.
Highlights
Spain is the world leader in production of dry-cured hams and shoulders with a total production of 251,345 Mg in 2006 (Resano et al, 2007)
The BOA (1993) regulations for the Teruel ham Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) establishes that the pigs have to be crossbreed from Duroc sires mated with Landrace × Large White sows and have to have a body weight (BW) between 120 and 140 kg at slaughter
The aim of this research was to determine the characteristics of the Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle and subcutaneous fat from barrows and gilts intended for Teruel dry-cured ham and to investigate the effect of slaughter weight (SW) on these characteristics
Summary
Spain is the world leader in production of dry-cured hams and shoulders with a total production of 251,345 Mg in 2006 (Resano et al, 2007). The BOA (1993) regulations for the Teruel ham PDO establishes that the pigs have to be crossbreed from Duroc sires mated with Landrace × Large White sows and have to have a body weight (BW) between 120 and 140 kg at slaughter. A minimum level of fat thickness over the Gluteus medius muscle of 18 mm and a fresh ham weight (11.3 kg) are required to improve uniformity and quality of the end product. Latorre et al (2008a) concluded that 130 kg was an adequate slaughter weight (SW) for these pigs from the point of optimizing Teruel ham production
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