LEVEL OF FATTY ACIDS, SELECTED QUALITY TRAITS OF LONGISSIMUS DORSI AND SEMIMEMBRANOSUS MUSCLES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH FATTENING AND SLAUGHTER PERFORMANCE IN POLISH LANDRACE PIGS

The aim of this study was to perform a comprehensive analysis of the level of fatty acids and selected meat quality traits, as well as their association with fattening and slaughter performance in Polish Landrace pigs. The study was conducted for two muscles: musculus longissimus dorsi and musculus semimembranosus. The study used 100 Polish Landrace gilts. The experimental animals originated from nucleus farms located in Poland. Their parents were animals with a known status of the RYR1 genotype (all animals were dominant homozygotes). Pigs were fattened, slaughtered and evaluated postmortem in piggeries of the Experimental Stations of the National Research Institute of Animal Production using test station procedures. After reaching 100 kg body weight, pigs were slaughtered and their half-carcasses dissected. Fattening and slaughter parameters were determined. Meat samples were analysed for crude fat using the Soxhlet method. The composition of higher fatty acids was determined by gas chromatography. Research results indicate that saturated fatty acids found in m. longissimus dorsi and m. semimembranosus were positively correlated to n-3 and n-6 PUFA. A similarly high correlation was observed between the level of UFA and n-6 and n-3 PUFA in the loin and ham. The fact that the proportions of some acids (e.g. n-6/n-3 PUFA) fail to meet WHO standards requires making efforts to improve them. Likewise, selection work is necessary to improve IMF levels in meat. The low correlations between meat quality traits and fattening and slaughter performance suggest that quality parameters should be regarded as independent traits in pig improvement models. In order to limit meat quality traits in pig improvement models, it is necessary to make use of the correlations between them.