Meat quality and cut yield of pigs slaughtered over 100kg live weight

Meat quality and cut yield of pigs slaughtered between 100 and 150kg live weight were evaluated. Pigs (417 Agroceres PIC barrows and gilts) were fed a daily allowance of 2.8kg per head from 80kg until 100.71±0.85, 118.58±0.99, 134.07±1.18 or 143.90±1.24kg live weight. Seventy-one pigs were used for the evaluation of primal and subprimal cuts. There was no interaction between sex and slaughter weight for any of the evaluated parameters. Ham, shoulder, and loin weights linearly increased (P<0.01; R2: 84.3-93.2%) with increasing slaughter weight, which, however, had little effect on primal cuts meat yield. Increasing slaughter weight promoted a linear (P<0.05) and a quadratic (P<0.01) increase of red/green coordinate (a* value) of the loin and ham, respectively. Shear force showed a quadratic response (P<0.05), with minimum value estimated at 122kg slaughter weight. It was concluded that, under the applied management, increasing slaughter weight increased the volume of meat, but had little effect on meat yield. The meat of pigs slaughtered at heavier weights showed more intense red color and the same intramuscular fat content as lighter pigs, while tenderness was slightly affected.