Measurement of trimethylamine contents and evaluation of pig meat natural quality by spectrophotometric method

Pig meat off-flavor was attributed to trimethylamine (TMA) contents, and to evaluate pig meat natural quality at different breeds, genders and days is reported. In this study, total 49 leg meat samples were used to assay TMA contents and 18 for measurement of TMA threshold to evaluate the natural quality. Xiang Mini pig contained the lowest TMA value (11.31±0.25 μg/g) in the four tested breeds, whose meat tasted more delicious. The TMA value of uncastrated male was significantly higher than castrated male and female. The TMA threshold for smell-off was about 25 μg/g and it was found at the middle of the 3rd day. The natural quality such as, appearance, flavor, color and overall acceptability scores declined significantly during four days storage time (P<0.01). As a conclusion, native pigs, castrated males, meat storage up to 34 h in room temperature contained lower TMA value, tasted better in flavor and highly acceptable.