title: Carcass composition and meat quality of indigenous Yanan pigs of China.
abstract: The Yanan (YN) pig is a traditional Chinese indigenous  breed that is raised in southwest China in the Sichuan Province, but there is  little data on the germplasm characteristics of this breed. To evaluate carcass  characteristics and meat quality of the YN pig, we compared carcass and meat  quality of YN pigs and Landrace × Yanan (CY) hybrid pigs; 30 YN pigs and 30 CY  pigs weighing 20 ± 2 kg were reared and slaughtered at the normal slaughter  weight (100-120 kg). The carcasses were chilled and the left carcass side was  dissected into bone, lean meat, fat, and skin; meat quality parameters were  measured. Carcasses of YN pigs were lighter (88.85 vs 90.05 kg, P <  0.05) and shorter (71.88 vs 77.61 cm, P < 0.001); they contained less  lean meat (41.60 vs 49.25%, P < 0.001), less ham and breech (25.93 vs 27.53%, P < 0.001) and less carcass bone (9.83 vs 10.53%, P <  0.01) than did carcasses of CY pigs. On the other hand, YN pigs had more  carcass subcutaneous fat and skin (48.58 vs 40.23%, P < 0.001),  thicker backfat (3.67 vs 3.43 cm, P < 0.001) and smaller loin muscle  area (9.83 vs 26.91 cm(2), P  < 0.001) compared with CY pigs. Among meat quality parameters, YN pigs had  higher pH(1) (6.41 vs 6.17, P < 0.001),  higher color score(u) (3.86 vs 3.36, P < 0.001) and  lower Minolta L(u) values (40.89 vs 45.32, P <  0.01) than CY pigs. On the other hand, YN pigs had lower drip loss (1.31 vs 2.26%,  P < 0.05) and lesser fiber area (2351.34 vs 3025.43 μm(2), P < 0.01) than CY pigs. Both breeds had high intramuscular fat  (4.46% in YN and 4.45% in CY). No significant differences in other carcass  traits and meat quality were found in the two populations. We conclude that YN  pigs could be used in commercial pig production to provide good tasting and  high-quality niche products.
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Yaan, PR China.
authors.forename: Y-Z
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: F-Q
authors.initials: FQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: X-W
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002681:China; D058751:Livestock; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D008461:Meat Products / Q000032:analysis*; D008462:Meat-Packing Industry; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat; D013552:Swine