Evolution of the composition in fatty acids of the dorsal subcutaneous adipose tissue from Alentejano pigs fed on pasture and acorns

• Autor(a) principal: Neves, J.A.
• Data de Publicação: 2008
• Outros Autores: Freitas, A.B., Martins, J.M., Ferraz de Oliveira, M.I., Abreu, M.C. de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10174/3531
• topic: Alentejano pig; Acorn; Grass; Adipose tissue; Fatty acids

The present work studied the evolution of fatty acid composition in the dorsal subcutaneous fat of free-range Alentejano pigs fed on pasture and acorns. Twenty pigs with a body weight (BW) of ~90 kg were placed in a 2 ha pasture (Lolium westerwoldium and Trifolium incarnatum) and fed daily with 4 kg of acorns. Animals were submitted to biopsies near tail insertion with ~90, ~100, and at slaughter, ~110 kg BW. The fat samples obtained were analysed by GC/FID to determine the fatty acid composition. An increase of only 20 kg body mass based on pasture and acorn consumption led to: (i) carcasses with C18:1 content similar to the minimal value stipulated by market demands for Alentejano pigs bred in free-range conditions; and (ii) contents of C16:0 and C18:0 were within the limits for the carcass-quality assessment. Nevertheless, the contents in C18:2 remained slightly above the 9.8% limit.