Investigation of quality of pork meat from Serbian farms | Ispitivanje kvaliteta mesa svinja sa farmi u Srbiji

The aim of this paper was to investigate differences in meat quality (chemical composition, pH value, weight loss during chilling and weight loss during thermical treatment) in farmed pigs of both sexes from Serbian farms during 2006. Investigated pigs were crossbreads (F1) landrace/pietren of both sexes (castrates, sows) 6 month old and average body weight of 90-110 kg, originating from farms and fed with concentrated feed given ad libitum. Matrix for determination of chemical composition (protein, fat, water and ash content), pH value and weight loss during thermical treatment, was m. longissimus dorsi from 5th to 7th lumbal vertebrae, sampled from male and female carcasses of pigs from three farms. Chemical composition of meat and pH (pH sub(2), pH sub(24) were determined using reference ISO methods. Chemical composition of m. longissimus dorsi from carcasses of male pigs was as follows: proteins from 19.97 +/- 1.29 to 20.16 +/- 0.62%, fats from 12.12 +/- 3.46 to 12.75 +/- 3.79%, water from 66.41 +/- 1.02 to 66.92 +/- 2.63% and ash from 0.92 +/- 0.08 to 0.92 +/- 0.13%. Chemical composition of m. longissimus dorsi from carcasses of female pigs was as follows: proteins from 20.58 +/- 1.37 to 21.23 +/- 0.52%, fats from 9.72 +/- 1.77 to 10.15 +/- 2.10%, water from 67.24 +/- 1.17 to 67.80 +/- 3.23% and ash from 1.03 +/- 0.10 to 1.10 +/- 0.09%. No statistically significant differences were observed between the chemical compositions of m. longissimus dorsi of male and female pigs. pH sub(2) value of the same muscle was from 6.03 +/- 0.31 to 6.07 +/- 0.24 in males, and from 6.08 +/- 0.28 to 6.09 +/- 0.28 in females. pH sub(24) was from 5.70 +/-0.08 to 5.74 +/-0.13 in males and from 5.77 +/- 0.11 to 5.78 +/- 0.14 in females. Weight loss during chilling ranged from 2.82 +/- 0.16 to 3.09 +/- 0.66% in males and from 2.71 +/- 0.26 to 2.91 +/- 0.44 in females. Weight loss during thermical treatment of m. longissimus dorsi in male pigs was from 23.19 +/- 0.89 to 23.43 +/- 0.43%, while in females weight loss during thermical treatment ranged from 23.18 +/- 0.69 to 23.25 +/- 0.36%.