Physicochemical properties of muscle tissue of young pigs of the large white breed of foreign origin, their variability, and correlation with biochemical parameters of blood serum

The study presents the results of research on the biochemical parameters of blood serum (including total protein, urea, total lipoproteins, creatinine, activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase), as well as the physicochemical properties of muscle tissue in young pigs of the Large White breed of foreign origin, and the calculation of correlations between key quantitative traits. The research was conducted in agricultural enterprises of the Dnipropetrovsk region, at the Research Center for Biosafety and Environmental Control of Agro-Industrial Complex (AIC) Resources of the Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University, at “Globynskyi Meat Processing Plant” LLC in the Poltava region, in the zootechnical analysis laboratory of the Institute of Pig Breeding and Agro-Industrial Production of NAAS, and the animal husbandry laboratory of the State Institution “Institute of Grain Crops” of NAAS. It was established that the biochemical parameters of the blood serum of young pigs of the Large White breed from the controlled population are within the physiological range for clinically healthy animals. The study of the longissimus dorsi muscle in the general animal sample showed the following values: water-holding capacity – 59.83 ± 0.855 %, active acidity (pH) – 5.63 ± 0.029 units, tenderness – 9.41 ± 0.143 s, color intensity – 71.57 ± 2.215 ext. units × 1000; cooking loss – 21.25 ± 0.404 %. Deviations from the minimum requirements for high-quality meat were: –7.17 % for water-holding capacity, –13.77 % for color intensity, and –16.04 % for tenderness. The proportion of longissimus dorsi muscle samples of high quality was: 12.0 % for water-holding capacity, 16 % for color intensity, and 12 % for tenderness. Statistically significant pairwise correlation coefficients were established between the following trait pairs: pH of the longissimus dorsi × alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity in serum (r = +0.435, tr = 2.37); water-holding capacity of the longissimus dorsi × urea content in serum (r = –0.405, tr = 2.17); water-holding capacity × total lipoprotein content in serum (r = +0.562, tr = 3.33); color intensity × urea content in serum (r = –0.394, tr = 2.10); color intensity × alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in serum (r = –0.520, tr = 2.98); cooking loss × aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity (r = +0.439, tr = 2.39); cooking loss × alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity in serum (r = +0.404, tr = 2.16).