Effect of dietary fat and restriction on carcass and meat quality of Iberian pigs

A total of 160 Iberian x Duroc pigs (50% males and 50% females, all castrated) of 40.3±2.7 kg of initial BW was used to study the influence of dietary fat source and feed restriction on carcass and meat quality. There were three experimental periods: (i) grower: 40-80 kg BW, 98 d of trial, with a restricted common diet; (ii) fattening: 80-114 kg BW, four treatments arranged as a 2 x 2 factorial design: ad libitum (31d) vs restricted (51d) with diets containing Iberian pig lard -IL- vs oleic acid enriched sunflower oil - OESO-, and (iii) finisher: 114 kg slaughter, 77d, diets based on IL or OESO ad libitum. Total experimental lengths were 206 and 226 d, for pigs fed ad libitum and restricted, respectively. At the end of the trial, restricted pigs showed lower backfat depth than pigs fed ad libitum. However, pigs restricted in the grower period had better carcass yield than ad libitum pigs but no significant differences were found for ham, shoulder and loin yield. In addition, feed restriction decreased L* and b* values of the loin. Finally, the fatty acid profile of the intramuscular fat was not affected by fed restriction and fat source.