Effects of Crossbreeding Thai Native or Duroc Pigs with Pietrain Pigs on Carcass and Meat Quality

This experiment aimed to compare carcass and meat quality of crossbred pigs (female Thai Native or Duroc crossed with male Pietrain; n=8 each) fattened for 120 days after weaning. They were slaughtered and dressed in USDA style. The experiment was designed by using t-test statistical analysis with two treatments, either Pietrain × Native (P×N) or Pietrain × Duroc (P×D). Pigs were slaughtered at an average weight of 88.8 vs 101 kg for P×N and P×D, respectively (P<0.05). P×N had a lower carcass weight (66.0 vs 73.5 kg, P<0.01), lean percentage (50.7 vs 59.9, P<0.01), loin eye area (47.2 vs 60.1 cm2, p<0.01) and carcass length (75.1 vs 78.9 cm, P<0.01), but a higher total fat percentage (11.4 vs 7.6, P<0.01), compared with P×D. The ham percentage of P×N was lower than that of P×D (33.6 vs 34.6, P<0.01). Meat pH at 45 min and 24 h post mortem was found to be lower in P×N in both Longissimus dorsi (LD) and Semimembranosus (SM) muscle (6.03 and 5.63 vs 6.04 and 5.72) compared with P×D (6.47 and 5.96 vs 6.71 and 5.95, respectively). The meat of P×N was lighter (L*) than that of D×P (53.4 vs 48.6, P<0.01). There were no significant differences for redness (a*), yellowness (b*), TBARS value and collagen content. The LD of P×N was found to be lower in moisture (72.1 vs 73.6, P<0.05), protein (22.4 vs 23.3, P<0.01) and higher in fat content (5.37 vs 2.85, P<0.01) compared with P×D. The results of this study suggest that crosses with the robust breed Duroc, could be an alternative genotype in commercial Thai pork production because most performance, carcass and meat quality traits were superior to those of crossbreds with the native pig genotype. However, N×P provided favorably more intramuscular fat.