Relationship between the Porcine Stress Syndrome gene and pork quality traits of F2 pigs resulting from divergent crosses

ABSTRACT

The PSS genotypes of 596 F2 pigs produced by initial mating of Brazilian commercial sows and native boars were characterized by PCR-RFLP and the pork quality traits were evaluated. Among the 596 pigs studied, 493 (82.7 percent) were NN and 103 (17.3 percent) were Nn. There were no differences between NN and Nn pigs in the following pork qualities pHu (5.71 ± 0.16 vs 5.70 ± 0.11), intramuscular fat (1.55 ± 0.64 percent vs 1.65 ± 0.67 percent), shear force (5552 ± 878 g/1.2 cm vs 5507 ± 826 g/1.2 cm), lightness (44.96 ± 2.05 vs 45.01 ± 1.92), redness (0.64 ± 0.60 vs 0.79 ± 0.55), yellowness (6.62 ± 0.56 vs 6.65 ± 0.48), hue (84.28 ± 5.53 vs 83.41 ± 4.85), or chroma (6.68 ± 0.52 vs 6.73 ± 0.52). However, pork from Nn pigs had a significantly (p < 0.05) lower pH45 (6.41 ± 0.27 vs 6.51 ± 0.26) and greater drip (3.92 ± 1.90 percent vs 3.06 ± 1.60 percent), cooking (33.29 ± 2.26 percent vs 32.50 ± 2.54 percent) and total (35.67 ± 2.48 percent vs 34.01 ± 2.58 percent) loss compared to that of NN pigs. These results indicate that, even in divergent crosses, PSS gene carriers produce pork of poorer quality.