Bìol. Tvarin. 2021; 23 (1): 30–33.
Received 03.03.2021 ▪ Accepted 25.03.2021 ▪ Published online 01.04.2021

The impact of stress on the quality of pork

I. Y. Stronskyi, M. R. Simonov, Y. S. Stronskyi, M. M. Akymyshyn

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies Lviv,
50 Pekarska str., Lviv, 79010, Ukraine

The quality and safety of pork is influenced by many factors before and after slaughter. Complex of biochemical and physicochemical processes take place in the maturation of the meat. One of the key factors that affect the quality of meat from slaughtered animals is the level of cortisol in the blood, because glucocorticoid hormone is the trigger for the development of a chain of stress biochemical reactions. This paper contains results of examination of the blood concentration of cortisol and lactate and meat pH. Samples were taken in two animal groups. The first one constituted of industrially reared and slaughtered animals, and the other group consisted of animals grown and slaughtered on small farms. In the blood of industrially reared pigs in comparison with domestic animals, the concentration of cortisol is significantly higher by 39.9% (P˂0.05), as well as the level of lactate — 2.3-fold (P˂0.01). The main reason is due to the stress experienced by animals during transportation and pre-slaughter handling. There is a marked difference between the maximum and the minimum plasma level of cortisol in pigs within one group. Under stress the breakdown of glucose and glycogen in the liver and muscles took place in anaerobic condition with formation of lactate. At 1, 24 and 48 hours of pork meat maturation in case of industrial rearing and slaughtering, compared to domestic, the pH of meat was lower. Obtained results gives the possibility to suggest the lower quality of the industrially reared and slaughtered pork compared with domestic.

Key words: food safety, pork, quality, cortisol

  1. Dalla Costa FA, Dalla Costa OA, Coldebella A, Mello Monteiro de Lima GJ, Ferraudo AS. How do season, on-farm fasting interval and lairage period affect swine welfare, carcass and meat quality traits? J. Biometeorol. 2019; 63 (11): 1497–1505. DOI: 10.1007/s00484-018-1527-1.
  2. Dokmanovic M, Ivanovic J, Janjic J, Boskovic M, Laudanovic M, Pantic S, Baltic MZ. Effect of lairage time, behaviour and gender on stress and meat quality parameters in pigs. Sci. J. 2017; 88 (3): 500–506. DOI: 10.1111/asj.12649.
  3. Hambrecht E, Eissen JJ, Newman DJ, Smits CHM, den Hartog LA, Verstegen MWA. Negative effects of stress immediately before slaughter on pork quality are aggravated by suboptimal transport and lairage conditions. Anim. Sci. 2005; 83 (2): 440–448. DOI: 10.2527/2005.832440x.
  4. Hambrecht E, Eissen JJ, Nooijen RIJ, Ducro BJ, Smits CHM, den Hartog LA, Verstegen MWA. Preslaughter stress and muscle energy largely determine pork quality at two commercial processing plants. Anim. Sci. 2004; 82 (5): 1401–1409. DOI: 10.2527/2004.8251401x.
  5. Jama N, Maphosa V, Hoffman LC, Muchenje V. Effect of sex and time to slaughter (transportation and lairage duration) on the levels of cortisol, creatine kinase and subsequent relationship with pork quality. Meat Sci. 2016; 116: 43–49. DOI: 10.1016/meatsci.2016.02.001.
  6. Rocha LM, Dionne A, Saucier L, Nannoni E, Faucitano L. Hand-held lactate analyzer as a tool for the real-time measurement of physical fatigue before slaughter and pork quality prediction. 2015; 9 (4): 707–714. DOI: 10.1017/S1751731114002766.
  7. Simonetti A, Perna A, Giudice R, Cappuccio A, Gambacorta E. The effect of high pre-slaughter environmental temperature on meat quality traits of Italian autochthonous pig Suino Nero Lucano. Sci. J. 2018; 89 (7): 1020–1026. DOI: 10.1111/asj.13007.
  8. Smiecińska K, Denaburski J, Sobotka W. Slaughter value, meat quality, creatine kinase activity and cortisol levels in the blood serum of growing-finishing pigs slaughtered immediately after transport and after a rest period. J. Vet.Sci. 2011; 14 (1): 47–54. DOI: 10.2478/v10181-011-0007-x.
  9. Sommavilla R, Faucitano L, Gonyou H, Seddon Y, Bergeron R, Widowski T, Crowe T, Connor L, Scheeren MB, Goumon S, Brown J. Season, transport duration and trailer compartment effects on blood stress indicators in pigs: relationship to environmental, behavioral and other physiological factors, and pork quality traits. Animals (Basel). 2017; 7 (2): 8. DOI: 10.3390/ani7020008.
  10. Stajković S, Teodorović V, Baltić M, Karabasil N. Pre-slaughter stress and pork quality. IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 2017; 85: 012034. DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/85/1/012034.
  11. Tang R, Yu B, Zhang K, Chen D. Effects of supplementing two levels of magnesium aspartate and transportation stress on pork quality and gene expression of μ-calpain and calpastatin of finishing pigs. Anim. Nutr. 2008; 62 (5): 415–425. DOI: 10.1080/17450390802214183.
  12. Vlizlo VV, Fedoruk RS, Ratych IB. Laboratory methods of research in biology, livestock and veterinary medicine. A reference book. Ed. by V.V. Vlizlo. Lviv, Spolom, 2012: 764 p. (in Ukrainian)
  13. Xing T, Gao F, Tume RK, Zhou G, Xu X. Stress effects on meat quality: a mechanistic perspective. Rev. Food Sci. Food Saf. 2019; 18 (2): 380–401. DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.12417.
 

Search