Influence of the Year Season and Lairage Length in the Slaughterhouse on the Quality of Pig Meat

Abstract

The impact of the length of pig housing in the slaughterhouse and the season on the meat quality of pigs was analyzed in the experiment. There were altogether 104 commercial pig hybrids used in the experiment weighing from 100 to 130 kilograms. The acidity of meat was assessed 45 minutes after slaughter in the longest back muscle - pH₁ MLD and the semimembranosus thigh muscle – pH₁ MSM. We found the lower pH1 value in MLD muscle (6.07) compared to MSM muscle (6.22) (P<0.05). The lowest occurrence of PSE meat in MLD and MSM was found out in the pigs slaughtered two hours after arrival to the slaughterhouse. The length of housing lasting for eight hours and more has negatively affected the quality of meat, which resulted in decreasing the average values of pH₁ in MLD (P<0.05) as well as in MSM (statistically insignificant).The lower average values of pH₁ MLD (5.98) were recorded in pigs slaughtered in the summer season compared to the winter period (6.16) (P<0.05). During the summer season, there was a threefold higher occurrence of the PSE meat in MLD muscle than in winter.  The season had no impact on the values of pH₁ MSM. This work has been created with the support of KEGA 006SPU-4/2014 and VEGA 1/0818/16.

Keywords: acidity, lairage, pork, PSE, season