Pork quality

In terms of nutritional value, taste, energy value, pork surpasses the meat of other farm animals, and canning even increases its taste properties.

The chemical composition, energy value, digestibility, taste, culinary and other properties of meat depend on the ratio of these tissues.

The quality of meat is influenced by the breed of pigs, gender, age, fatness, the nature of fattening, methods of keeping, conditions of transportation and pre-slaughter aging, stunning methods, degree of bleeding, etc.

The selection of all breeds of pigs bred in the country is aimed at improving meat qualities: reducing the thickness of bacon, fat content in the carcass and increasing the amount of muscle tissue. The less fat the carcass contains and the more muscle tissue, the greater the yield of protein, nitrogenous substances and essential amino acids – the most nutritionally valuable components of meat. The thickness of the fat is an indirect indicator of the content of fat in the carcass.

The influence of the breed on the quality of pork is clearly seen from the results of a comparative breed test of 28 breeds and breed groups of pigs. So, the content of muscle tissue in the carcass of some is 59,0-61,6% (Poltava, Kemerovo, Moldavian meat types), in others – 52,5-53,5% (Ukrainian steppe white, Liven, large black breed) , the content of fat in the carcass in the first is 26,6-29,5%, in the second – 35,3-36,4%, the thickness of the fat, respectively, is 29-32 mm and 35-41 mm.

Pigs selected for high meatiness are also distinguished by the biological usefulness of muscle tissue proteins. The protein-quality index of meat in pigs of meat types is 10,6-10,7, in large black and Ukrainian steppe white breeds – 7,9-8,2. At the same time, the meat of large black pigs is distinguished by the greatest marbling, which determines the tenderness and taste of meat.

As for the influence of the sex of animals on the quality of pork, pigs are distinguished by the best meat qualities: they have thin fat, more lean meat in the carcass, and more protein and less fat in muscle tissue. Borovki have higher marbling and water-holding capacity of meat.

The effect of feed factors on the quality of pork is diverse. And you always need to know for sure: only with a full-fledged balanced feeding can you get high-quality products. With a lack of feed, a deficiency in the diet of protein or other nutrients, the efficiency of feed use deteriorates, productivity decreases, and the quality of pork decreases. In carcasses, the amount of fat increases and the content of muscle tissue decreases. Conversely, an increase in the amount of protein in the diets of pigs increases the yield of the most nutritionally valuable cuts: ham, loin, etc. The composition of the diet is especially strongly reflected in the quality of the average daily gain up to 6 months of age, during the period of the greatest intensity of muscle tissue growth.

The concentrated type of feeding leads to excessive obesity of pigs, and the inclusion of green succulent feed in the diet has a positive effect on the development of muscle tissue and the improvement of meat quality. The addition of fats to the diets of fattening pigs is accompanied by an increase in slaughter yield, fat content in the carcass, and internal fat.

When feeding animals with liquid feed and food waste, pork is obtained with a high moisture content, which is undesirable for long-term storage of meat, smoking and canning.

According to Belarusian scientists, the water-holding capacity of meat in pigs grown in private farms is 17,8% higher than in fattened pigs in large complexes, and 6,4% higher than in animals kept in ordinary farms. In addition, the water-holding capacity of pig meat from individual farms decreased during the day only by 0,7-1,7%, and in pigs from the complex – by 3,6-7,25%. Pork from large farms is characterized by a higher acidity.

Feeding sugar to pigs has a positive effect on the quality of meat. If you give a pig 1 kg of sugar, molasses or molasses on the last day before slaughter, then the pork will be fresh and tasty, with a dense texture. Pork of good quality is also obtained by feeding animals with peas, barley, dairy products, green mass of legumes. With more than one third of corn in the diet, pork becomes oily.

With intensive fattening, its quality is always higher than with long-term fattening, since fattening ends much earlier, until intensive fat formation occurs. And although the high growth rate is accompanied by some increase in the process of fat formation, the carcasses of pigs finishing fattening at the age of 6-7 months are of high quality.

It is useful for an amateur pig breeder who purchases piglets for fattening on the market to know that young pigs that are stunted due to temporary underfeeding, transferred to intensive fattening with balanced diets, not only compensate for stunting, but also restore the morphological and chemical composition of the carcass .

The quality of meat is also influenced by environmental conditions. The carcasses of animals kept for fattening at high relative humidity and temperatures above 20 Β°C were of lower quality: acidity increased, the water-holding capacity of meat and the content of myoglobin in it decreased. Keeping pigs before slaughter at low temperatures and low humidity does not adversely affect the quality of meat.

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Anna Evans

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