Morphological differences in longissimus dorsi muscle of pig, buffalo, sheep, goat and poultry

With a view to establish morphological differences between the muscles of pig, buffalo, sheep, goat and poultry, longissimus dorsi were examined. The average fibre cross-sectional area, average fibre diameter, number of fibres per unit area, fascicle size and number of fascicles per unit area have been studied. The size of the muscle fibres showed a decrease in the following order: pig, buffalo, sheep, goat and poultry. In poultry the muscle fibres were thinner and the fibre density values were greater in comparison to other species. The fibres were the coarsest in the pig. A slight difference in the fascicle size between the different species could be appreciated, the pig fascicles being generally large.