Intramuscular Fat Content Variation Of Tongcheng Pigs And Landrace In Different Times Of Their Growth

In animal production, one of the important goal is to produce a lean carcass and high-quality meat. Meat quality is a composite concept as pointed out by Cameron and therefore it is difficult to measure meat quality in a simple and unique manner. the measurement of these traits usually include measurements assessing backfat, intramuscular fat, water-holding capacity, pH, glycolytic potential, colour, tenderness, juiciness and flavour. In the pig industry, intramuscular fat content is an important condition to determine the meat quality, such as tenderness, juiciness and flavor, but also one of the conditions of people to purchase pork. There is variety of native pigs in China, but the variation of intramuscular fat content during their growth has not been investigated. This study aims to investigate the vatiations of intramuscular fat in the longissimus of Tongcheng pigs from the 45th day of embryo stage to 160th days after birth, with use of Oil Red O and Nile red staining.In longissimus of Tongcheng pigs, the result shows that during embryo stage the intramuscular fat content rarely increases during the 45-70th day; from the 70th day to the 90th day, it increases a bit little; it increases obviously between the 95th day and the 114th day. The intramuscular fat content of Tongcheng pigs’ longissimus in The 20th day after birth are more than that in the 120th day, the 150th day and the 160th day. The intramuscular fat content of Tongcheng pigs’ longissimus decreases from the 20th to 160th day after birth. In addition, we also study the longissimus and gastrocnemius of Landrace in the 90th day of embryo stage. The result shows that both the intramuscular fat content between longissimus and gastrocnemius have no significant difference, the study about sex appears the similar result.Conclusions:In longissimus of Tongcheng pigs, the intramuscular fat content increases from the 45th day of embryo stage to the birth, and reach the peak. It decreases from the 60th day to the 180th day after birth. In longissimus of landrace pigs, the intramuscular fat decreases during their growth.