Tissue growth in the pig

Abstract

SUMMARYGrowth coefficients were determined for muscle, bone and fat in the side and in the ham, for six muscles of the ham, and for the femur, using data obtained from the dissection of 66 carcasses of female pigs weighing from 25 to 65 kg live weight.Irrespective of the independent variable taken for regression, the coefficients showed bone in the side to be earlier developing than muscle, which in turn was earlier than fat. There is good agreement between these coefficients and corresponding values reported for cattle, sheep and pigs.There was little evidence that the ham as a whole or its muscle, bone and fat components grew disproportionately to the corresponding components of the whole side.The growth coefficients of the six muscles of the ham agreed closely with those reported for cattle, sheep and pigs with the exception of that for the m. adductor, which was lower.The combined weights of the m. biceps femoris and m. adductor were related almost as closely to the weight of muscle in the side as was the weight of total muscle in the ham. Of the six muscles taken individually the weight of the m. biceps femoris was most closely related to muscle in the side.