The influence of age at the beginning of Montanera period on meat characteristics and fat quality of outdoor Iberian pigs

Abstract

A total of 120 Iberian pigs of the Lampiñ a line that grew under outdoor conditions were used to study the effect of the age at the beginning of Montanera period (AM) on meat characteristics and fatty acid (FA) profile of subcutaneous fat. AM period is a free-range fattening phase from November to February in which pigs ate mainly acorns and grass. There were two treatments with two AM (20 pigs per treatment); 18 (P18) and 12 months (P12). Barrows and gilts were in the same proportion within each treatment. All the animals were slaughtered at the same time (at the end of Montanera period) reaching an average 160 kg of body weight. Meat from P18 had less protein and was more red (a*) ( P , 0.05), but tended to show higher intramuscular fat content ( P , 0.10) than meat from P12. Loin from P18 had lower thawing ( P , 0.001) and cooking losses ( P , 0.10) than loin from P12. The fat from P18 had higher monounsaturated FA content than fat from P12 pigs ( P , 0.01) due to the higher level of C18:1 ( P , 0.01) and C20:1 ( P , 0.001). However, fat from P12 had higher polyunsaturated FA content than fat from P18 pigs ( P , 0.01) because of the higher level of C18:2 ( P , 0.001). It is concluded that both 12 and 18 months are adequate AM for purebred Iberian pigs from the commercial point of view. However, if the aim is to produce high-quality dry-cured Iberian products, the P18 pigs would be more advisable because had better meat and fat characteristics than the P12 pigs.

Quality traits of <i>longissimus lumborum</i> muscle from White Mangalica, Duroc × White Mangalica and Large White pigs reared under intensive conditions and slaughtered at 150 kg live weight: a comparative study

“…It is difficult to compare water-holding capacity among trials due to different methods and/or result expression. Still, cooking loss of Mangalica meat was lower than recorded in other autochthonous breeds: Celta (Franco et al, 2014), Cinta Senese (Franci et al, 2005;Pugliese et al, 2005;Sirtori et al, 2011), Nero Siciliano (Pugliese et al, 2004), Creole (Renaudeau et al, 2005;Renaudeau and Mourot, 2007) and Puławska (Wojtysiak and Połtowicz, 2014) and higher than in Lampiño (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al, 2010). In agreement with previously discussed results for pH and colour, in this study significant correlation was also found between the following: juiciness and age (r = 0.84, P < 0.001), WHC-M / T and pH 24 h (r = 0.73, P < 0.001) and WHC-M / T and L * value (r = −0.84, P < 0.001).…”

Should animal fats be back on the table? A critical review of the human health effects of animal fat

“…Approximately 35-45% of chicken and other poultry fat is MUFA, between 22 and 27% of the fat is CISFA, 13-26% of fat is PUFA depending on species and method of rearing, but there can be large changes in long-chain n-3 PUFA if the ration contains higher levels of a-linolenic acid (Chartrin et al 2006;Jia et al 2010;Givens et al 2011). In pigs there are smaller changes in stearic acid, MUFA and PUFA with different rations and genotypes than in chickens but CISFA are~27% of the fat and can as low as 21% for free-range pigs (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al 2010;Razmaite et al 2011;Barea et al 2013). The value of the OMR is dependent on the food source.…”

Developmental Stage, Muscle and Genetic Type Modify Muscle Transcriptome in Pigs: Effects on Gene Expression and Regulatory Factors Involved in Growth and Metabolism

“…Iberian pig shows special growth, fattening and meat characteristics, mainly as a consequence of its particular high fat deposition and desaturation potential, high food intake associated with leptin resistance [5, 6] and the elevated age at which those pigs are slaughtered [7, 8]. Iberian pigs require a long productive cycle (12–18 months) to develop desirable characteristics expected from Iberian pork products.…”

“…Iberian pigs require a long productive cycle (12–18 months) to develop desirable characteristics expected from Iberian pork products. It has been reported that parameters such as intramuscular fat (IMF) content, fatty acids (FA) profile or redness influence meat quality and improve as pigs mature [8–12]. …”