Influence of sex and castration of females on growth performance and carcass and meat quality of heavy pigs destined for the dry-cured industry1

Abstract

Crossbred pigs (n = 240) from Pietrain x Large White sires mated to Landrace x Large White dams, with an average age of 100 d (60.5 +/- 2.3 kg of BW), were used to investigate the effects of sex and slaughter weight (SW) on growth performance and on carcass and meat quality characteristics. There were 6 treatments arranged factorially, with 3 classes (intact females, IF; castrated females, CF; and castrated males, CM) and 2 slaughter weights (114 and 122 kg of BW). Each of the 6 combinations of treatments was replicated 4 times, and the experimental unit was a pen with 10 pigs. Castrated males and CF ate more feed, grew faster, and had more carcass backfat depth and fat thickness at the gluteus medius muscle but lower loin yield than IF (P < 0.05). In addition, CF and CM had more intramuscular fat (P < 0.05) and less linoleic acid content in the subcutaneous fat (P < 0.01) than IF. Pigs slaughtered at 122 kg of BW had lower ADG (P < 0.05), decreased G:F (P < 0.05), and more gluteus medius fat than pigs slaughtered at 114 kg of BW (P < 0.05). It was concluded that CF and CM had similar productive performance and meat quality characteristics when slaughtered at the same age, and that castration of females improved ADG and increased weight and fat content of primal cuts with respect to IF. Therefore, castration of females is recommended in pigs destined for the dry-cured industry because of the beneficial effects on quality of the primal cuts.

Effect of advancing the supply of finisher diet on growth performances and carcass and pork quality of heavy barrows and gilts

“…In fact, carcasses from barrows were fatter than those from gilts (by 30% at the level of 3rd and 4th last ribs and 15% over the GM muscle). These findings agree with other studies on heavy pigs (Latorre et al, 2008;Peinado et al, 2008;Suárez-Belloch et al, 2015a) confirming the high potential for fat deposition of barrows.…”

“…Regarding the chemical composition, no effect of sex was recorded, although a higher IMF content was expected in LT muscle from barrows than from gilts. In line with the results on carcass fatness and accordance with other authors (Latorre et al, 2008;Peinado et al, 2008), the laboratorial analysis showed higher IMF proportion in pork from barrows but the difference was not significant probably due to the high variability among samples. The sensory benefits of a high IMF content are well known in terms of juiciness and acceptability of meat (Wood et al, 2008).…”

Productive performance, carcass and meat quality of intact and castrated gilts slaughtered at 106 or 122 kg BW

“…Afterwards, samples were weighed again and the difference between the weight of the slice before and after conservation in the cooler was divided by the initial weight to determine drip loss. Cooking loss and shear force were determined as described by Honikel (1998) and Peinado et al (2008), respectively.…”

“…The samples were vacuum packaged in individual plastic bags and frozen at 2208C during 54 days until subsequent analyses. The FA profile of the samples was determined as described by Peinado et al (2008). Briefly, FA was extracted with diethyl ether from a 200 mg sample and analysed by chromatography (Autosystem XL, Perkin Elmer, Boston, MA, USA).…”

“…Castration of gilts is a common practice in the production of Iberian pigs that are slaughtered at 145 kg BW or more and in which a certain amount of fat at GM is required (Serrano et al, 2009b). Peinado et al (2008) observed that castration of gilts increased the proportion of carcasses that fulfilled the requirements of the dry-cured industry for a minimal amount of BF and GM fat and a maximal amount of C18:2 in pigs slaughtered at 114 and 122 kg BW, increasing the economic value of pork meat. Therefore, castrated gilts (CGs) might be a good alternative to IG for the production of heavy pigs intended for the industry of dry-cured products.…”