Effect of pre-slaughter weight on morphological composition of pig carcasses

Abstract

Abstract To achieve the goals of our study, we investigated the relationship between morphological composition of pig carcasses and their pre-slaughter weight. In this research, 60 pigs were reared for fattening under the identical conditions of keeping and feeding, then slaughtered and sampled with pre-slaughter weight 110 and 120 kg. The content of meat, fat, and bones and their ratio in carcasses were evaluated. The probable influence of the factor of pre-slaughter weight on the share of meat in certain parts of the carcass is established 61.96% for the cervical-scapular third, 62.21% for the lumbosacral third, and 96.57% for the pelvic-femoral thirds. It has been found that in pigs at slaughter weight 120 kg for each additional increase in fat content by 1.0 kg, the meat content was proportionally insufficient by 0.43 kg in the cervical-scapular third and by 0.39 kg in the pelvic-femoral third of the carcass. In peers weighing 110 kg, each additional 1 kg of fat did not allow to gain 0.72 kg of meat in the cervical-scapular third of the carcass. The study shows that pigs fattening up to 110 kg of its carcass is more sensitive (44.99%) to changes in meat–fat ratios in the cervical-scapular third, which allows more targeted formation of the characteristics of semi-finished products of this part at this stage. Slaughter weight management can improve the quality of pork.