Effect of genotype and seasonality on pig carcass and meat characteristics

The effect of the genetics and the slaughter time on pig carcasses and raw ham characteristics has been assessed. With this aim, 1257 pigs from five different crosses including Duroc (DU), Landrace (LR) and Large White (LW) in five slaughters distributed along a year (namely, December 2000, March, April, July and November 2001) were used for the study. The variables studied included carcass weight (CW), ham weight (HW), lean meat percentage in the ham (% Lean), pH at 45 min post-mortem (pH 45 min) and at 48 h post-mortem (pH 48 h). The percent of ham yield (% HW-CW ratio) was calculated as the ratio ham weight/carcass weight multiplied by 100. Semimembranosus muscle (SM) from 237 hams was collected at 48 h post-mortem in order to determine the moisture, protein and intramuscular fat content and pH measurement in the laboratory (pH Lab). A univariate analysis of variance including genetics as fixed factor and slaughter time as random factor revealed that carcass and meat traits are influenced by both the time of year in which the animals are slaughtered and the genetics; however, the latter exerts a less significant effect than the slaughter time.