Carcass characteristics and fat depots in Iberian and F1 Large White × Landrace pigs intensively finished or raised outdoors in oak-tree forests1

Abstract

A factorial experiment was performed with 117 barrows belonging to the Iberian (IB) and crossbred F Large White × Landrace (F) genetic groups, either intensively finished (IN) or finished outdoors on pasture in an oak and cork tree forest (EX). Information was collected on carcass weight, yield, and dimensions; weight of organs, carcass cuts, and abdominal fat depots; backfat depth; measurements of the longissimus thoracis (LT); and yield of different leg tissues. For the 41 slaughter and carcass traits analyzed, the interaction between genetic group and finishing system was significant ( < 0.05) in 18 traits, and overall, there was a more pronounced influence of genetic group than of finishing system. In most variables, particularly those related with fat deposition, the interaction reflected mostly changes in mean differences among genetic groups rather than in their ranking, where IB pigs consistently produced fatter carcasses, regardless of the finishing system. Liver weight in IB-EX pigs was lower by nearly 8% when compared with F-EX or IB-IN pigs, but the opposite pattern was found in F pigs, where liver weight in F-EX pigs was higher by 16% relative to IB-EX pigs or to F-IN pigs. The deposition of adipose tissue was much larger ( < 0.05) in IB pigs compared with F pigs, with means for fat depots in IB pigs that were higher by about 25% in total abdominal fat, 94% in dorsal fat depth, 72% in intermuscular plus subcutaneous fat in the leg, and over 300% in intramuscular fat (IMF). The deposition of lean tissue was much lower in IB pigs ( < 0.05), with means for trimmed loin weight corresponding to about one-half of the means obtained in F pigs, whereas lean percentage in the leg of IB pigs was about two-thirds of the mean in F pigs and the mean area of the LT was nearly one-half of that observed in F pigs in the same finishing system ( < 0.05). A strong correlation was observed between the various fat depots when the full data set was considered (correlations of IMF with abdominal fat and backfat depth of 0.65 and 0.83, respectively; < 0.05), but the correlations were much smaller when they were estimated within breed, particularly for IB pigs (-0.10 and 0.20 for the correlations of IMF with abdominal fat and backfat depth, respectively; > 0.05), indicating that it is feasible to reduce subcutaneous and abdominal fat without compromising IMF and meat quality.

Carcass Composition and Physicochemical Characteristics of Meat from Pork Chains Based on Native and Hybrid Pigs

“…Despite the differences in the presentation of cuts, the results regarding the shares of ham and shoulder of Spanish native breed (Cerdo Iberico) slaughtered at heavy weights (156-170 kg) were similar to those obtained in this study [40,41]. Similar relations of main tissues in local unselected breeds were also found by other authors [42,43].…”

Physicochemical characteristics and sensory attributes of meat from heavy-weight Iberian and F1 Large White × Landrace pigs finished intensively or in free-range conditions1

“…The carcasses were split longitudinally, and chilled at 4 °C for 24 h postmortem. Carcasses were separated into the major joints, as described by Bressan et al (2016), and a sample of 100 g was collected from the M. Longissimus thoracis (LT) between the 9th and 11th vertebrae for chemical analyses. External fat and epimysium were removed from meat samples, which were then individually minced in a commercial mixer-blender, vacuum-packaged, and frozen at −18 °C until further processing for proximate composition determination.…”

Comparison of Growth Performance and Meat Quality Traits of Commercial Cross-bred Pig versus Large Black Pig Breeds

“…The research compared Iberian pigs and commercial cross-bred pigs showed a strong correlation between IMF and backfat thickness [23]. Our data showed higher IMF and backfat deposition in the British Large Black pigs, which demonstrate the similarity fat deposition pattern in local domestic pigs that is different from commercial cross-bred pigs.…”