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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jas.2008-0899v1 86/12/3544    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fernández-Dueñas, D. M. Articles by McKeith, F. K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Fernández-Dueñas, D. M. Articles by McKeith, F. K.

Carcass, meat quality, and sensory characteristics of heavy body weight pigs fed ractopamine hydrochloride (Paylean)

D. M. Fernández-Dueñas^*, A. J. Myers^*, S. M. Scramlin^*, C. W. Parks, S. N. Carr, J. Killefer^* and F. K. McKeith^*,1

^* Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana 61801; and Elanco Animal Health, a Division of Eli Lilly and Company, Greenfield, IN 46140

¹ Corresponding author: mckeith{at}uiuc.edu

Carcass characteristics, meat quality traits, and sensory attributes were evaluated in late-finishing barrows and gilts, weighing between 100 to 130 kg of BW, fed 0, 5, or 7.4 mg/kg of ractopamine hydrochloride (RAC) for the final 21 to 28 d before slaughter. Carcass data were collected from carcasses from barrows and gilts (n = 168), and all primal cuts from the right sides of these carcasses were fabricated to calculate primal yields as a percentage of the HCW. Subjective (National Pork Producers Council and Japanese) color, firmness, and marbling scores were determined on the LM of each loin and the semimembranosus muscle (SM) of the ham, whereas the moisture, extractable lipid, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), and trained sensory evaluations (juiciness, tenderness, and pork flavor) were measured on the LM samples only. Gilts produced heavier (P < 0.05) HCW than barrows, whereas feeding RAC increased (P < 0.05) HCW over pigs fed diets devoid of RAC. Carcasses from gilts also had greater (P < 0.02) primal cut and lean cut (P < 0.01) yields than barrows, and dietary inclusion of 5 mg/kg of RAC increased (P < 0.05) total boneless cut and lean cut yields when compared with carcass from pigs fed 0 or 7.4 mg/kg of RAC. Warner-Bratzler shear forces values were greater (P < 0.05) in the LM of gilts than barrows, but only juiciness scores were greater (P < 0.03) in LM chops from barrows than gilts. The LM from barrows had greater intramuscular lipid (P < 0.001) than the LM from gilts, and even though the LM from pigs fed 5 mg/kg of RAC had greater (P < 0.04) WBSF values than the LM from pigs fed 0 or 7.4 mg/kg of RAC, including RAC in the late-finishing diets for 21 or 28 d did not affect sensory panel rating or percentages of moisture and intramuscular lipid. In summary, addition of RAC in the late-finishing diet improved carcass and primal cut yields when it was fed at 5 and 7.4 mg/kg without altering pork quality traits regardless of whether RAC was fed for 21 or 28 d.

Key Words: carcass trait • late finishing pig • meat quality • ractopamine