CARCASS COMPOSITION AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF M. LONGISSIMUS DORSI AND M. SEMIMEMBRANOSUS IN PIGS CROSSES OF YOUNA AND PIETRAIN

T. Popova, M. Ignatova, M. Todorova, J. Nakev, P. Marinova

Abstract: The study was carried out with 47 male castrated and female pigs, crosses of Youna and Pietrain. The aim of the work was to determine the meat productivity and quality of m. Longissimus dorsi (m. LD) and m. Semimembranosus (m. SM) in fattened pigs with a pre-slaughter weight of 105 kg (+ 2.5) and average weight of skinned and cooled carcass of 61.66 kg. The percentage of the valuable parts of the carcass was as follows: leg – 27.05%, loin - 16.89%, shoulder - 14.06%, neck - 14.76%, belly with bones - 13.74%. Muscle tissue in the half carcass had the highest percentage - 61.80%. The contents of the rest of the tissues were respectively: intermuscular fat - 8.31%, subcutaneous fat – 15.16% and bones – 14.64%. Values of pH 45 min post mortem, typical for PSE meat, were not found and those of pH 24 h in both muscles were within the normal range for pork.
The quality traits had normal values for this kind of meat and were close for m. LD and m. SM. The content of intramuscular fat in m. LD was 2.61%, while in m. SM it was 2.36%. These values are relatively high (above 2%) and are important for the good sensory characteristics of the meat.

Keywords: carcass; crosses; meat; pigs; quality

Date published: 2017-09-26