Colour and marbling of M. semimembranosus and M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum from five purebred pigs produced in Vojvodina

Abstract

Sensory evaluation of colour and marbling of M. semimembranosus (SM) and M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) from five purebred pigs produced in Vojvodina (Large White, Landrace, Duroc, Hampshire and Pietrain) was performed. Colour was evaluated by the panellists with 6-point colour score cards (1-pale pinkish-gray to white; 6-dark purplish-red). Marbling was evaluated by the panellists with7-point marbling score cards (1-devoid, 6-moderate/10-abundant).The differences in the colour and in the marbling of the SM muscles and of the LTL muscles among the five purebred pigs were not significant (P>0.05). A darker colour was obtained for SM muscles than for LTL muscles for all five purebred pigs, with a significant differences for Durok (P=0.018) and Pietrain (P=0.002). The type of the muscles had no significant effect on marbling (P>0.05). The Vojvodian pork meat showed lighter colour than optimum for pork. According to average marbling scores fat content in pork produced in Vojvodina was less than 2 %.

Keywords

• pigs
• colour
• marbling
• m. semimembranosus
• m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum