Jivko Nakev1, Teodora Popova2
1Agricultural Institute, Shumen, 9700 Shumen, Bulgaria
2Institute of Animal Science, 2232 Kostinbrod, Bulgaria
Nakev, J., & Popova, T. (2020). Quality of meat in purebred pigs involved in crossbreeding schemes. I. Chemical composition and quality characteristics of m. Longissimus thoracis. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science, 26(4), 894–898
The aim of the work was comparison of the chemical composition and some quality characteristics (pH, color and water-holding capacity) of m. Longissimus thoracis (m. LT) in pigs of Landrace, Pietrain, Large White and Duroc breeds. The differences between the four breeds concerning the studied traits were assessed through one-way ANOVA. The results showed that Durocs had the highest content of intramuscular fat in m. LT, while the meat of Pietrain and Large White was the leanest. Furthermore, the content of moisture was higher in Pietrain and Landrace, in comparison to Duroc and Large White. The quantity of ash was the highest in Duroc. The quality characteristics of m. LT – pH 45 min, pH 24 h, water-holding capacity (WHC) and color were within the optimal limits and did not show deviations from the parameters, characterizing the “normal” meat.