EFFECT OF SEAON, TRANPSPORT LENGTH, DECK LOCATION AND LAIRAGE LENGTH ON BLOOD CORTISOL CONCENTRATION AND PORK QUALITY

摘要

IntroductionThe 2002 Unites States National Pork Benchmarking Audit estimate of economic loss associated with pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) pork has been reported at $0.90 per pork carcass. Given the estimated daily market hog slaughter capacity in the U.S is around 420,000 pigs/ d, the estimated cost of PSE pork to the United States packing industry is approximately $378,000 a day.There have been numerous studies investigating the effects of various transport and lairage lengths (Hambrecht et al., 2005; Warris et al., 1987, 1998) relative to muscle metabolism and pork quality. In the U.S double-decked "pot bellied" trailers for multiple species are commonly used to transport market hogs. Very little research evaluating the influence of seasonal environment or differences between transport deck location during transport on blood parameters and ultimate meat quality data has been conducted in the U.S. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of seasonal environment, top and bottom deck transport, transport duration and time in lairage on pork quality and blood serum cortisol concentrations of market hogs.