title: The influence of fiber size distribution of type IIB on carcass traits and meat quality in pigs.
abstract: The effects of detailed characteristics such as the size and proportion of type IIB fibers in longissimus thoracis muscle on carcass traits and pork quality were investigated. A total of 96 pigs were classified into four groups by the proportion of different IIB fiber sizes. Group NS (high proportion of both small- and normal-sized IIB fibers) had a higher total number (136.4) and density (231.31) of type IIB fibers, backfat thickness (37.20 mm) and intramuscular fat content (4.77%) than the other groups (P<0.05), whereas Group NS had the lowest values of cross-sectional area (3413.85 μm2) and diameter (60.15 μm) of type IIB fiber among the groups (P<0.05). Pig muscles with higher percentage of large IIB fibers exhibit tougher, lighter and more exudative meat than pig muscles with a higher proportion of small- or normal-sized IIB fibers. Therefore, an increase in the proportion of large IIB fibers causes poor quality of pork.
authors.affiliation: Division of Applied Life Science (BK21 Program), Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Gap-Don
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jin-Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Eun-Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Han-Sul
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hyun-Tae
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Seon-Tea
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Joo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000592:standards*; D018656:Muscle Fibers, Fast-Twitch / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology; D013552:Swine / Q000502:physiology