Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2021, 66(3):78-86 | DOI: 10.17221/231/2020-CJAS

The analysis of pig carcass classification in SlovakiaOriginal Paper

Ján Tomka*,1, Peter Demo1, Martina Gondeková1, Zuzana Salagová2
1 Institute for Animal Husbandry Systems, Breeding and Product Quality, Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, National Agricultural and Food Centre, Lužianky, Slovak Republic
2 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

In the last decade, the pig sector in Slovakia has been changing continuously, especially in regard to the proportion of pigs coming from foreign breeding programs. These changes lead to changes in carcass characteristics and to a change in the distribution of carcasses within the classes of the Union scale for the classification of pig carcasses. Therefore, this study was undertaken to analyse the actual state of pig carcass classification in the Slovak Republic and to investigate the needs of updating the equations for the classification methods and possible steps to improve the quality of pork produced within the country. Results showed that an increased number of pig carcasses originated from Danish breeding program, and also from the Czech Republic and Poland. When compared to carcasses in 2009, these changes resulted in lower backfat thickness and higher muscle thickness of the longissimus dorsi muscle and thus higher lean meat content of carcasses. This results in a higher number of carcasses classified in the S and E classes. Slight differences between two instrumental classification methods were calculated. The study showed the need for updating the equations for classification methods, and also suggested possible further steps in order to improve the quality of pork.

Keywords: carcass quality; SEUROP; grading; lean meat content; backfat thickness; muscle thickness

Published: March 2, 2021  Show citation

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Tomka J, Demo P, Gondeková M, Salagová Z. The analysis of pig carcass classification in Slovakia. Czech J. Anim. Sci. 2021;66(3):78-86. doi: 10.17221/231/2020-CJAS.
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