Influence of pre-slaughter welfare conditions on early pH of pork in Piedmont (Italy)

The ante-mortem handling procedures could induce stress and, subsequently, influence the acidity of pork. Early post mortem pH is an important parameter as it affects most meat quality parameters such as colour, water holding capacity, tenderness and flavour. A survey was performed to investigate the effect of pre-slaughter conditions on pork Semimembranosus pH and temperature at 45 min. Eight variables related to animals, loading, transportation and unloading were checked. The pigs were loaded in an average time of 51 min, through no linear paths with different slopes. Social groups were not respected and animals were mixed at loading. The pigs were handled with moderate care by operators, even if in 40% of farms electrical prodder were still used. Carcass pH at 45 min post mortem was regular in 89% of animals/farm (6.0≥ pHi≤6.8). One farm had 25.4% of animals with pHi lower than 6.0. Correlation showed that the risk of PSE is reduced with proper management. Our results suggest that, in intensive heavy pig production in Piedmont, positive human management have major influence on glycolysis post mortem trend. Our study reflects also the interesting use of early pH measurements as indicator of pre-slaughter animal welfare and meat quality.