The influence of dietary lysine restriction during the finishing period on growth performance and carcass, meat, and fat characteristics of barrows and gilts intended for dry-cured ham production

2011 
A total of 120 pigs (Duroc × (Land- race × Large White); initial average BW: 100.3 ± 2.5 kg) were used to investigate the effects of sex (barrows and gilts) and dietary total Lys restriction (7.0, 6.5, and 6.0 g ∙ kg −1 ) on growth performance and carcass, meat, and fat characteristics. Pigs were intended for high-quality dry-cured ham from Spain (called Teruel ham), and a minimum fat thickness at the gluteus me- dius muscle (GM) is required (16 mm) for carcasses to be acceptable. Animals were slaughtered when they reached 129.0 ± 3.6 kg of BW. There were 6 treatments arranged factorially (2 sexes × 3 dietary Lys concentra- tions) and 4 replicates of 5 pigs per treatment. Barrows consumed more feed (P = 0.001) and tended to have less G:F (P = 0.06) than gilts. Carcasses from barrows were fatter (P = 0.001) and had heavier main trimmed lean cuts (P = 0.008) than gilts. A greater propor- tion of final acceptable carcasses for Teruel ham (P = 0.001) was observed in barrows than in gilts because of the greater percentage of carcasses that fulfill the minimum fat depth at GM required (P = 0.001). Meat from barrows had greater content of intramuscular fat (P = 0.02) than meat from gilts. Also, subcutaneous fat from barrows had less proportion of PUFA than fat from gilts (P = 0.02). A reduction in dietary Lys concentration decreased ADG (P = 0.004) and ADFI (P = 0.001) in pigs. In addition, backfat depth (P = 0.007) and fat at GM (P = 0.07) increased as dietary Lys decreased. The proportion of carcasses that ful- filled the minimum fat depth at GM required for Teruel ham increased as dietary Lys decreased in feed, but this effect was greater in gilts than in barrows (sex × Lys, P = 0.02). Meat and fat quality was not influenced by dietary treatment. We conclude that different feed- ing programs with different dietary Lys concentrations may be needed for barrows and gilts intended for pro- duction of dry-cured hams where a minimum carcass fat depth is required.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    39
    References
    34
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []