Basic chemical composition of meat and carcass quality of fattening hybrids with different slaughter weight

Abstract

Meat is a very rich and universal source of nutrients. The primary importance of meat is based especially on protein content. Optimum slaughter weight has influence on the basic chemical composition of meat. Fattening pigs were classified by their weight into three groups before the slaughter day. The highest content of proteins and water was found in the part of ham and shoulder in the group of animals at 100-110 and 111-120 kg of live weight, respectively, while the lowest content was found in the part of neck in animals at 121-130 kg of live weight. The highest content of intramuscular fat and mineral substances was in animals at 121-130 kg (neck and loin), while the lowest content was in animals at 100-110 kg live weight (ham). The pH values were within the optimum limits (5.33 - 5.77). Differences between the groups for the values of proteins content, mineral substance and pH values were statistically highly significant (p<0.05; p<0.01), while for the contents of water and intramuscular fat there were no differences (p>0.05) between the groups.