SUITABILITY OF STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL TRAITS OF SKELETAL-MUSCLE FOR THE GENETIC-IMPROVEMENT OF MEAT QUALITY IN PIGS

Functional defects in different organ systems especially in skeletal muscle are considered as the physiological basis of stress susceptibility and inferior meat quality. The muscle fibres as the place of protein synthesis play a central role in this process. A broad pattern of histological and histochemical methods can be used for a complex appreciation of the muscle structure. Several traits e. g. total number of muscle fibres, fibre type composition and fibre diameter are causally connected with production traits and stress susceptibility. The h2-values estimated for muscle structure traits are from 0.2 to 0.8 and have very high errors of estimation. The intensity of the energy depletion post mortem is most important for the meat quality. It is possible to detect differences in the muscle metabolism in pigs of different stress susceptibility by in-vivo methods e.g. shot biopsy. The R-value of a muscle sample characterises the ATP-depletion and the pH is a measure for the glycogen degradation. The combination of both parameters provides the best information. The h2-estimation values for muscle function traits are low (0.1 - 0.3). A standardisation of the environment is crucial for their application in the selection.