Chinese local pig breeds have unique meat flavor. In this study, we investigated the meat quality traits and the characteristics of the nutritional flavor substances such as amino acids (AAs), fatty acids (FAs), thiamine (Vitamin B1, VB1), and inosine monophosphate (IMP) in four Shanghai local pig breeds (MMS, SW, PD, and SHW) and the commercial crossbred Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire (DLY) breed. The results showed that the intramuscular fat (IMF) and protein content in the longissimus dorsi muscle (L) of Shanghai local breeds, especially Shanghai MMS and PD breeds, were significantly higher than those of the DLY breed (p-value p-value < 0.0001), especially for the MMS breed, where the content of PUFAs in the L and G muscle amounted to (14.86 ± 2.06) g/100 g and (14.64 ± 2.83) g/100 g, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of other breeds. The MMS breed was also found to have the highest IMP content and the lowest thiamine (VB1) content among several pig breeds. Therefore, these differences in meat nutritional flavor substances provide new insights into the characterization of meat flavor in Shanghai local pig breeds.
