Table 3. Physicochemical characteristics of the longissimus dorsi muscle and Semimembranosus muscle of finishing pigs at different slaughter weights1)
| Item | Av (115 kg) | Hi (125 kg) | XHi (135 kg) | SEM | p-value |
| B | G | B | G | B | G | SW | S | SW × S |
| Longissimus dorsi muscle |
| pH | 5.66 | 5.63 | 5.64 | 5.70 | 5.66 | 5.66 | 0.02 | 0.45 | 0.59 | 0.13 |
| CIE L* | 49.2 | 50.3 | 51.1 | 49.6 | 48.6 | 50.1 | 0.8 | 0.46 | 0.56 | 0.12 |
| CIE a* | 6.38 | 6.21 | 5.79 | 5.53 | 5.87 | 5.36 | 0.34 | 0.09 | 0.27 | 0.88 |
| DL (%) | 5.95 | 5.21 | 6.49 | 4.94 | 5.34 | 5.48 | 0.55 | 0.86 | 0.12 | 0.31 |
| CL (%) | 23.4 | 23.7 | 25.0 | 23.1 | 24.4 | 24.6 | 0.9 | 0.60 | 0.54 | 0.41 |
| SF (kg/cm2) | 3.99 | 3.89 | 3.84 | 4.22 | 3.67 | 3.09 | 0.38 | 0.81 | 0.58 | 0.82 |
| Chemical composition (%) |
| Moisture | 73.4 | 73.7 | 73.5 | 73.5 | 73.8 | 73.9 | 0.3 | 0.62 | 0.97 | 1.00 |
| Protein | 22.5 | 22.1 | 22.9 | 22.4 | 21.9 | 22.7 | 0.3 | 0.47 | 0.90 | 0.12 |
| Fat | 2.19 | 1.95 | 1.88 | 2.22 | 1.95 | 1.68 | 0.28 | 0.60 | 0.80 | 0.47 |
| Semimembranosus muscle |
| pH | 5.62 | 5.60 | 5.55 | 5.62 | 5.59 | 5.60 | 0.03 | 0.64 | 0.42 | 0.21 |
| CIE L* | 50.9 | 51.8 | 53.4 | 50.9 | 52.8 | 53.2 | 0.9 | 0.20 | 0.57 | 0.12 |
| CIE a* | 8.40 | 8.25 | 8.56 | 8.24 | 9.27 | 8.68 | 0.42 | 0.25 | 0.30 | 0.87 |
| DL (%) | 5.81 | 5.89 | 6.87 | 6.03 | 6.67 | 6.39 | 0.40 | 0.21 | 0.33 | 0.56 |
| CL (%) | 25.7 | 26.7 | 22.1 | 22.6 | 26.2 | 26.3 | 1.3 | < 0.01 | 0.62 | 0.95 |
| SF (kg/cm2) | 4.15 | 3.18 | 3.18 | 3.17 | 3.39 | 3.33 | 0.29 | 0.25 | 0.15 | 0.19 |
| Chemical composition (%) |
| Moisture | 73.6 | 73.7 | 73.5 | 73.5 | 73.8 | 73.9 | 0.3 | 0.70 | 0.62 | 0.74 |
| Protein | 22.3 | 21.8 | 21.9 | 21.6 | 21.6 | 22.0 | 0.3 | 0.65 | 0.61 | 0.23 |
| Fat | 1.89 | 1.76 | 2.40 | 1.68 | 2.83 | 2.45 | 0.25 | < 0.01 | 0.06 | 0.51 |
Data are means of six animals in each SW × S combination.
Av, average; Hi, high; XHi, extra-high; B, barrow; G, gilt; SW, slaughter weight; S, sex; DL, drip loss; CL, cooking loss; SF, Warner-Bratzler shear force.