Quantifying production, processing and post-slaughter effects on pork eating quality using random effects...

Area of Science:

• Animal Science
• Food Science
• Meat Science

Background:

• Pork eating quality is influenced by numerous pre- and post-slaughter factors.
• Developing a pathway-based eating quality system requires understanding these influences.
• Current knowledge gaps exist regarding the combined effects of multiple factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the influence of various factors on pork eating quality attributes and M. longissimus dorsi shear force.
• To inform the development of a pathway-based eating quality system for pork.
• To identify key factors impacting pork tenderness and juiciness.

Main Methods:

• Random effects meta-regression using a restricted maximum likelihood (REML) approach.
• Analysis focused on single factors due to limited data on interactions.
• Estimated means of explanatory variables were obtained from published studies.

Main Results:

• Moisture infusion, ageing (> 2 days), and tenderstretching significantly improved pork tenderness (P < 0.001, P = 0.006, P = 0.006).
• Cooking loins to ≥ 80°C negatively impacted tenderness (P = 0.022) and juiciness (P < 0.001) compared to 70-74°C.
• Reliable algorithms for multiple factors could not be developed due to limited interaction data.

Conclusions:

• Specific interventions like moisture infusion, extended ageing, and tenderstretching are key to enhancing pork tenderness.
• Cooking temperature is a critical factor affecting both pork tenderness and juiciness.
• Further research on factor interactions is needed for a comprehensive pork quality system.