Effect of sire breed on carcass characteristics and meat and fat quality of heavy pigs reared outdoor and intended for dry-cured meat production

A trial was conducted to study the effect of sire line (Duroc (DU) and Pietrain (PI)) on carcass, meat and fat quality of pigs reared outdoor and destined to dry-cured meat production. No differences between sire genotypes were detected in carcass fat thickness (P > 0.10) but carcasses from DU-sired pigs were longer (P < 0.05) and tended to have a higher yield of trimmed shoulders (P = 0.07) and hams (P = 0.06) than carcasses from PI-sired pigs. Loins from DU-sired genotype showed higher (P < 0.05) L* value and lower (P < 0.01) a* value than loins from PI-sired genotype. Pork from DU-sired offspring tended to have higher (P = 0.09) intramuscular fat (IMF) percentage and lower (P < 0.05) moisture proportion than meat from PI-sired offspring. Also, loins from DU-sired pigs had lower (P < 0.001) thawing losses than loins from PI-sired pigs. The subcutaneous fat from the DU-sired line tended to show lower (P = 0.08) percentage of total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) than that from the PI-sire line, mostly due to the higher proportion of C18:2 (P = 0.09) and C20:3 (P < 0.01). However, no effect of crossbreed was detected on the total proportion of saturated, monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFAs) or PUFAs of IMF (P > 0.10). We conclude that both sire lines can be used successfully under outdoor conditions but DU boars are more adequate than PI boars for the production of heavy pigs intended for the dry-cured meat industry.