GROWTH in Carcass Improvement:

Boars and gilts probed at Bloomsbury Farms in September continue to show terrific performance parameters. Biggest loin probed at 100 kg live weight on Trailblazer boars was 68.7 mm; on Lacombe gilts was 73.6 mm; on Yorkshire gilts was 68.0 mm and on Duroc gilts was 68.8 mm. Leanest boar was a Pathfinder Duroc at 7.1 mm, while several other breeds and sexes measured a mere 7.2 mm.

Breed	No.	Average Backfat	Loin Depth	Loin Area	Est. Lean Yield
Trailblazer boars	17	9.1mm	64.1 mm	41.9 sq cm	64.0%
Duroc gilts	10	9.2 mm	65.2mm	45.3 sq cm	64.1%
Lacombe gilts	9	9.4mm	64.7 mm	44.8 sq cm	63.8%
Yorkshire gilts	10	9.8 mm	63.9 mm	44.2 sq cm	63.6%

Welcome to Earl Forth on his purchasing Yorkshire and Landrace feeder pigs. We appreciate all our customers for continuing in the pig industry with PEAK Swine Genetics

Dr. Pramod Mathur, Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement, Ottawa
Project supported by the Alberta Funding Consortium

Meat color is one of the most important visual characteristics of pork affecting the choice of consumers domestically and internationally. Darker pork usually has lower cooking loss and better tenderness, but colour preferences vary between different markets.
Visual characteristics are considered to be the main factors governing consumer choice of pork. International cross-cultural comparison of consumer preference has highlighted significant differences in consumer choice of pork chops based on four appearance characteristics (colour, amount of fat cover, marbling and drip loss). Among them, color preferences were the most consistently chosen. More recently, a survey of consumer preferences by Canada Pork International (CPI) has revealed that pork colour is one of the most important characteristics for “Gold Markets” such as Japan, where meat colour was considered more important in purchasing fresh pork from a retailer, before origin of pork and price. Pork colour was mentioned by 92% of surveyed Japanese female consumers asked to provide the three first criteria for their choice of pork. Pork quality attributes are quite highly correlated among each other. An exhaustive study has shown that darker meat had a greater propensity to be firmer, had less drip loss, was more tender and had a higher ultimate pH. Meat colour is favourably correlated with fresh and processed meat characteristics.
Meat quality traits including pork colour have been identified as special group of traits where DNA information is especially useful for the Canadian swine industry (Mathur, 2003). So far, there has been limited use of selection on meat quality traits in Canadian swine mainly because the measurements are collected on slaughtered animals that are therefore not available for breeding anymore.
Comparative mapping with human and pig genome has indicated that the SLC44A3 gene may be associated with meat colour. This provides an opportunity for genetic evaluation of pork colour on live pigs using a blood sample, tissue such as ear notch or even hair root. If the gene has similar effects in major pig breeds used in Canada, the gene test can be used to select pigs and adapt the meat colour to the desired levels. Therefore, the project is designed to estimate the frequency and effects of the SLC44A3 gene on pork colour in Canadian pigs.

Objectives and Deliverables

The ability to adjust meat colour according to consumer preferences using a DNA test rather than sacrificing the pig can be highly valuable for the Canadian swine industry. The SLC44A3 gene has been found associated with meat colour in crosses between Berkshire and Yorkshire pigs in the US. If the gene has similar effects in the Duroc, Yorkshire, Lacombe and Landrace pigs used in Canada, the gene test can be used by Canadian producers to select pigs and adapt the meat colour to the desired levels. Therefore, the proposed project has the following objectives:

1. Estimate the current levels of pork colour in Canadian pig breeds.
2. Estimate the frequency of the SLC44A3 gene.
3. Evaluate its effect on pork colour in Canadian pigs.

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