THE EFFECTS OF SLAUGHTER WEIGHT AND SEX ON THE COOKING LOSSES FROM AND PALATABILITY ATTRIBUTES OF PORK LOIN CHOPS

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Abstract
A total of 130 barrows and 113 gilts were slaughtered over a range of liveweights from 65.6 to 143.9 kg. These animals were randomly assigned to six different liveweight groups (group 1, less than 79.5 kg; group 2, 79.5 through 93.1 kg; group 3, 93.2 through 106.7 kg; group 4, 106.8 through 120.4 kg; group 5, 120.5 through 134.0 kg; and group 6, 134.1 kg and over) and utilized to evaluate the effects of slaughter weight and sex on palatability and cooking properties. The composite results indicated that the slaughter weight of both barrows and gilts can, from a practical standpoint, be increased to take advantage of potential economic advantages without meaningfully altering cooking losses or palatability attributes. Key words: Pork, slaughter weight, sex, palatability, cooking losses