Quality assessment of Iberian pigs through backfat ultrasound characterization and fatty acid composition

Five batches of Iberian pig backfat of different breeds and with differing feeding regimes were analysed as to their fatty acid composition and textural, thermal and ultrasonic properties. The feeding regime affected the backfat composition more than the breed of the animals. The higher the oleic acid content in the feeding regime, the higher the monounsaturated fatty acid content in the samples. Ultrasonic velocities ranged from 1609 to 1631m/s. A change in the slope of the velocity versus temperature curve was found at 6°C, coincident with a change in the melting rate found in the differential scanning calorimetry. Discriminant analysis using ultrasonic measurements allowed 94.7% of the samples to be correctly classified in the batches considered, while the use of the fatty acids composition correctly classified 86.2% of the samples. Therefore, ultrasonic techniques could be useful in the characterization and classification of backfat samples from Iberian pigs.