Carcass and Meat Quality of Selected Final Crossbred Pigs in the Republic of Croatia

The objective of this research was to compare the quality of carcass and meat of selected pigs in Croatia. Investigation was carried out on 80 pigs, divided into three groups. Pigs from 1 and 2 groups were threeway crossbreeds between Large White and Swedish Landrace on the dam side and Pietrain (1 group) and German Landrace (2 group) on the sire side. 3 group was created from pigs crossbreed between Large White and German Landrace of the dam side, and Pietrain on the sire side. Influence of crossbreeding on lean meat percentage, Fat/MLD ratio and portions of main parts in carcass (except for shoulder) was statistically significant (P<0.001). The highest portion of muscular tissue was obtained in the 3 group (62.80%), followed by the 1st group (56.50%) and the 2 one (52.33%). The 2 group exhibited the best indicators of MLD technological properties (pH45, pH24, W.H.C. and color). Carcasses with lower lean meat percentage had better meat quality traits than those with higher lean meat percentage.