Association of blood glucose, blood lactate, serum cortisol levels, muscle metabolites, muscle fiber type composition, and pork quality traits

•Pigs were processed under the Korean standard slaughter procedures.•A rapid, practical method was used to measure glucose in exsanguination samples.•Blood glucose levels were related to blood lactate and serum cortisol levels.•High blood glucose levels indicated rapid glycolytic rate and poor pork quality.

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship of blood glucose levels with blood lactate, serum cortisol levels, postmortem muscle glycogen and lactate content, muscle fiber type composition, and pork quality traits. Compared to pigs with lower blood glucose levels, pigs with higher blood glucose levels showed higher blood lactate and serum cortisol levels at exsanguination, and they had lower residual glycogen and higher lactate content in the muscle at 45 min postmortem. In addition, pigs with higher blood glucose levels had higher type IIB and lower type I area composition and finally exhibited lower muscle pH, paler color, and excessive loss of fluid on surface. These results imply that measuring blood glucose levels at exsanguination can be useful to indicate early glycolytic rates during postmortem and thus may be of value in the identification of pork with undesirable quality traits.