THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE DURING TRANSPORTATION TO THE QUALITY OF PORK

Abstract

The aim of the experiment was to assess the impact of different temperature during transportation on the pork quality. Two thousand eleven commercial pigs hybrids, weighing 100-130 kg were used in the experiment. Acidity of meat and muscle temperature were assessed 45 minutes after slaughter in the longest back muscles between the next to last and last thoracic vertebrae (musculus longissimus dorsi, pars thoracis) – pH1 MLD and T MLD, and in the geometric center semimembranosus thigh muscle (musculus semimembranosus) – pH1 MSM and T MLD. Pigs were divided into groups according to the temperature during housing in slaughterhouse using quartile distribution. Experiment results show that increase of average daily temperature during the transport resulted in worse quality of meat in MLD which was shown in pH1 MLD decrease and the temperature MLD increase. More significant pH1 (5.97) decrease occurred during average daily temperature higher than 15.0 °C and at this temperature the most significant temperature increase occurred in MLD muscle. Also the pH1 MSM indicator showed decrease in average values due to average outer temperature increase. The lowest pH1 MSM (6.22) value was detected in the group with average daily temperature during transport above 15 °C. Lower pH1 values were detected in musculus longissimus dorsi.