HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article 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 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^*

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

mckeith{at}uiuc.edu

Abstract

Carcass characteristics, meat quality traits and sensory attributes were evaluated in late-finishing barrows and gilts, weighing between 100 to 130 kg, fed 0, 5 or 7.4 ppm of ractopamine hydrochloride (RAC) for the final 21 to 28 d before slaughter. Carcass data were collected from carcasses from barrows and gilts (n = 84 /gender), and all primal cuts from right sides of these carcasses were fabricated to calculate primal yields as a percentage of the hot carcass weight (HCW). Subjective (NPPC and Japanese) color, firmness and marbling scores were determined on the Longissimus muscle (LM) of each loin and the Semimembranosus muscle (SM) of the ham, whereas the moisture, extractable lipid, Warner-Bratzler shear force, and trained sensory evaluations (juiciness, tenderness and pork flavor) were measured on the LM samples only. Gilts produced heavier (P<0.05) hot carcass weight (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<02) primal cut and lean cut (P<0.01) yields than barrows, and dietary inclusion of 5 ppm of RAC increased (P<0.05) total boneless cut and lean cut yields when compared with carcass from pigs fed 0 or 7.4 ppm of RAC. Warner-Bratzler shear forces values (WBSF) 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 ppm of RAC had greater (P<0.04) WBSF values than the LM from pigs fed 0 or 7.4 ppm of RAC, including RAC in the late-finishing diets for either 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 ppm without altering pork quality traits regardless of whether RAC was fed for 21 or 28 d.

Key Words: carcass traits • late finishing pigs • meat quality • ractopamine