Influence of bone fracture incidence on the quality of pork semimembranous muscle

Abstract : This study was conducted to investigate the incidence of bone-fracture from pig carcass slaughtered in eight processing plants located in Daejeon and Chungnam area, Korea, during the year 2013 and 2014, and to evaluate the quality of semimembranous muscle from bone-fractured carcasses. Twenty semimembranous muscles were collected from bone-fractured carcasses and none bone-fractured (control) ones, respectively, after storage of pig carcass at 5℃ for 24 h. The pH, cooking loss, and color of semimembranous muscle were measured as quality parameters. In total 4,865,502 of pig carcasses, the occurrence of bone fracture was 0.328% (15,975 heads) and scored the highest defect (26.31%) in total abnormal carcasses. The pH and cooking loss of semimembranous muscle from bone-fractured carcasses were significantly lower than those of control (p<0.05). L* and a* values of semimembranous muscle were not significantly different between bone-fractured carcass and control whereas that of b* values was significantly higher in bone-fractured carcass than control (p<0.05). Eight out of twenty semimembranous muscle collected from bone-fractured carcasses were confirmed as PSE whereas only one in control. In conclusion, the incidence of bone-fracture pre- and during slaughter of pig may cause serious defects in final meat quality. Therefore, the proper handling and treatment should be implicated to avoid and/or decrease the incidence of bone-fracture of pigs.