A second look at the influence of birth weight on carcass and meat quality in pigs

To re-examine the relationship of birth weight with carcass and meat quality of pigs at market weight, offspring (n=378) of 63 sows were assigned to three birth weight groups; 25% low weight (LW), 50% middle weight (MW), and 25% heavy weight (HW), with runts (<800g) being excluded. LW pigs exhibited the lowest postnatal growth performance, the lowest lean mass and the greatest degree of fatness in terms of perirenal fat compared with MW and HW pigs. Only in females, but not in male castrates, the lean percentage was highest in HW pigs. Characteristics of longissimus muscle technological quality declined either in LW (pH, drip loss) or HW (conductivity, lightness) compared with MW pigs. In contrast, intramuscular fat percentage (IMF) was highest in LW pigs. The results suggest that the most desirable carcass composition is obtained with HW pigs, whereas optimum technological pork quality, except for IMF, is achieved with MW pigs.