Stress hormones, carcass composition and meat quality in Large White×Duroc pigs.
Meat Science. 2005-04-01; 69(4): 703-707
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2004.11.002
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1. Meat Sci. 2005 Apr;69(4):703-7. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2004.11.002. Epub 2004 Dec
9.
Stress hormones, carcass composition and meat quality in Large White×Duroc pigs.
Foury A(1), Devillers N, Sanchez MP, Griffon H, Le Roy P, Mormède P.
Author information:
(1)Laboratoire de Neurogénétique et Stress, Institut National de la Recherche
Agronomique, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Rue Camille St-Saens, 33077
Bordeaux Cedex, France.
The levels of stress hormones, cortisol and catecholamines (adrenaline and
noradrenaline), were measured in urine collected after slaughter from the
bladder, in 309 pigs (females and castrated males) from an F2 intercross between
the Large White and Duroc breeds to analyze the relationships between
stress-responsive neuroendocrine systems, carcass composition and meat quality.
Intramuscular fat content was measured from a biopsy sample taken at a live
weight of 70 kg from the longissimus lumborum muscle, and carcass and meat
quality traits were also collected. Carcass fat content was higher and estimated
carcass lean meat content was lower with increasing urinary levels of cortisol
and adrenaline (that are highly correlated with each other), but was not related
to the levels of noradrenaline, showing that adrenal hormones favor the accretion
of fat at the expense of muscle proteins, a typical physiological effect of
cortisol. On the contrary, intramuscular fat levels were unrelated to either
hormone level. Finally, muscle pH measured 24 h after death was positively
correlated with catecholamine levels, an effect related to the catabolism of
muscle glycogen by catecholamines released by preslaughter stress, which impairs
post-mortem acidification of meat. These results show the importance of a control
over stress neuroendocrine systems to increase pork production and product
quality, and the value of the genetic approach to reach this goal.
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2004.11.002
PMID: 22063148