EFFECTS OF FASTING AND WATER RESTRICTION ON CARCASS SHRINK AND PORK QUALITY

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Abstract
One hundred and twenty market weight (90 kg) pigs were allocated at random to one of three treatments: immediate slaughter and 24 h or 48 h without feed or water after arrival at an abattoir. All pigs were removed from feed 17 h before arrival at the abattoir. Weights of body organs and the digestive tract full and emptied of digesta were recorded along with warm carcass weight. After chilling for 24 h a pork chop 25 mm thick was removed along with the commercial ham and belly from the left carcass side and frozen for later quality determinations. Live weight shrink over 48 h amounted to 6.8 kg with 75% (5.1 kg) of this loss being attributed to loss in carcass weight. The 24-h holding period also resulted in a significant loss in carcass weight (3 kg). Approximately 20% of the total shrink over 48 h was due to a reduction in digestive tract contents. Body organs showed little change in weight over the 48-h holding period apart from the liver which was reduced in weight by 14.6%. Final longissimus muscle pH was increased and muscle luminosity (fresh longissimus, cured m. semimembranosus and m. biceps femoris) decreased for both the 24-h and 48-h holding treatments but did not result in any dark, firm and dry meat. Drip loss in pork chops decreased with increased ante-mortem holding time. However, processed yields for hams and bacon were not significantly influenced by the holding period pre-slaughter. It was concluded that the time from last feeding to slaughter should be minimized to avoid losses in carcass weight and slightly darker fresh and processed meat. Key words: Fasting, carcass shrink, carcass quality, processed yield