Effects of two different diets on carcass and meat quality traits of Chato Murciano pigs

Abstract

Abstract. A total of 40 castrated male pigs of the Spanish autochthonous Chato Murciano breed were used for this study to evaluate the influence of two diets. One group of 20 pigs was fed with a high protein/low fat (HP/LF) diet and slaughtered with life weight (LW) of 125.03 kg. The other group of 20 pigs was fed with a low protein/high fat (LP/HF) diet and slaughtered with 121.91 kg LW. The effects of diet on carcass and meat quality traits were studied. Meat samples were taken from the longissimus lumbar (LL) muscle. The HP/LF diet produced a faster growing rate and higher daily weight gain, and measurements in the LL muscle showed higher values of ultimate pH (pHu), colour parameters, and higher content in Ca, Mg, Zn, K and Na. The LP/HF diet led to higher values of Fe and Cu. The difference in the LL muscle intramuscular fat (IMF) levels was noteworthy, with values of 3.21 % in the HP/LF group and 11.00 % in the LP/HF group; however, the dorsal fat thickness measurements showed no differences. The fatty acid composition of the IMF was 42.43 and 42.29 % of saturated fatty acids (SFA), 50.34 and 51.35 % of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and 7.20 and 6.24 % of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) for the HP/LF group and LP/HF group respectively, with only statistically significant differences in the MUFA levels (P≤0.05).