Breed and slaughter weight effects on meat quality traits in hal- pig populations

Halothane negative pig populations are the optimal choice to produce female lines in modem pig production schemes. The halothane gene has a detrimental effect on meat quality traits in heterozygous populations, thus it is important to characterise the maternal lines free of the halothane gene. This contribution analysed several meat characteristics on 110 entire males slaughtered at 90 and 110 kilograms liveweight. Animals were tested to be non-carriers of the halothane gene, were of Large White, Landrace and Duroc breeds and belonged to the National Pig Breeders Association. Duroc animals reveal higher pH values (at 45 minutes and 24 hours post mortem). Longissimus toracis muscles of Landrace and Large White animals were paler (subjective colour scale) compared with Duroc ones. The main difference between Duroc and white breeds is their higher intramuscular fat content. Slaughter weight doesn't affect meat quality characteristics. Breed x Slaughter weight interactions were not significant in most meat traits analysed.