Abstract
The effects of rearing (outdoor vs indoor) and feeding systems (acorn and grass vs mixed diets) on ham quality from Duroc x Iberian pigs were studied. Seven groups of 5 females each were used. One group was reared under freerange conditions and fed with acorns and grass (outdoor pigs). Six group were fed mixed diets in confinement (indoor pigs) under a factorial design 3 x 2 with three types of dietary fat: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and medium (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) and two levels of α-tocopheryl-acetate. The α-and γ-tocopherol contents were higher (P < 0.05) in hams from outdoor pigs than in hams from indoor pigs. The hams from indoor pigs were lighter than hams from outdoor pigs and redness values were larger in hams from outdoor pigs than in hams from indoor pigs. At 4 days of storage ham samples from outdoor pigs showed a tendency (P < 0.10) to lower weight loss than those from pigs fed a basal level of vitamin E. These results indicate that rearing outdoor and feeding Iberian pigs by acorn and grass increase the α-and γ-tocopherols and improve color and weight losses in dry-cured hams.
Highlights
The production of Iberian pig is deeply bound to the Mediterranean ecosystem (López-Bote, 1998)
The whole productive cycle of the Iberian pig is orientated towards a final fattening period in the Mediterranean forest, the so-called “dehesa”, where the grazing animal consumes acorns as the main component of its diet, complemented with grass when it is available
Fatty acids were identified by gas chromatography as described elsewhere (López-Bote et al, 1997) using a 6890 Hewlett Packard gas chromatograph and a 30 m x 0.32 mm ϫ 0.25 μm cross-linked polyethylene glycol capillary column
Summary
The production of Iberian pig is deeply bound to the Mediterranean ecosystem (López-Bote, 1998). The whole productive cycle of the Iberian pig is orientated towards a final fattening period in the Mediterranean forest, the so-called “dehesa”, where the grazing animal consumes acorns as the main component of its diet, complemented with grass when it is available. This extensive fattening phase is required to provide fresh or cured products with highly valuable flavour attributes and market price (García-Valverde et al, 2007). Diet formulation for Iberian pigs has to take into account the characteristics demanded of the final products ( dry cured ham), using the pigs raised extensively in montanera as a model for top quality product reference (Isabel et al, 2003; Cava et al, 2003; Daza et al, 2004;Ruiz et al, 2005; Rey et al, 2006; López-Bote et al, 2008)
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