RESEARCH ARTICLE


Comparison of Growth Performance, Body Composition, Body Conformation and Meat Quality Between Three Genetic Pig Lines



Liesbet Permentier1, *, Daniël Maenhout2, Konrad Broekman5, Wouter Deley3, Vincent Van de Perre1, Geert Verbeke4, Rony Geers1
1 Laboratory for Quality Care in Animal Production, KU Leuven, Bijzondere weg 12, B-3360 Lovenjoel, Belgium
2 ForFarmers Belgium BVBA, Zuidkaai 6, B-8770 Ingelmunster, Belgium
3 Hypor Belgium NV, Theo De Beckerstraat 24 bus 5, B-3200 Aarschot, Belgium
4 Leuven Biostatistics and Statistical Bioinformatics Centre, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
5 Hypor B.V., Spoorstraat 69, NL-5831 CK Boxmeer, The Netherlands


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Creative Commons License
© 2013 Permentier et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Laboratory for Quality Care in Animal Production, KU Leuven, Bijzondere weg 12, B-3360 Lovenjoel, Belgium; Tel: +32 16 46 81 39; Fax: +32 16 46 81 59; E-mail: Liesbet.Permentier@biw.kuleuven.be


Abstract

Growth performance, body composition, body conformation and meat quality were evaluated in crossbred pigs originating from three sire lines selected for leanness and conformation. The crossbred P, which was based on Belgian Piétrain had a leaner carcass and a better ham conformation compared to the other crossbreds. The presence of the halothane gene resulted in poorer meat quality in comparison to the homozygous halothane negative crossbred. Body composition and body conformation were not correlated. Hence, information on both body composition and body conformation is needed to characterize genetic lines in order to determine the true commercial value of pig carcasses, especially when meat quality has to be taken into account.

Keywords: Pig, Crossbred, Body composition, Conformation, meat quality.