Impact of Chilling Rate and Halothane Genotype on the Frequency of Pse-like Zones and the Processing Yields of Hams

The aim of this work was to further investigate the effects of chilling rate on the frequency of PSE-like zones on pork hams, following on from a previous study [1]. An 8°c difference in chilling rate (4 hours post-mortem) was applied to the opposite carcass sides, from halothane genotyped pigs. In order to increase the frequency of PSE-like zones, pigs were slaughtered after a limited fasting time and without resting. Biochemical analysis (glycogen potential, protein solubility) were performed on Semimembranosus samples to explore local specificities of PSE-like zones. As expected, the overall meat quality was low but the frequency of PSE-like zones was noticeably high (44%). Chilling rate did not have a significant effect on meat quality and the frequency of PSE-like zones, except for Semimembranosus pH4 and L*; it however had a reduced influence on processing yields. Under these altered slaughter conditions, halothane genotype (Nn vs NN) had a massive effect on the frequency of PSE-like zones (61% vs