Qualidade da carne suína: distância e tipo de transporte no pré-abate

Abstract

Consumer demand in relation to food quality has been a determining factor in the purchase of food by the world's population. Constantly, the consumer has been looking for safe products and nutritional quality, linked to economic value and purchasing power. The pre-slaughter aspects, including transportation, are decisive factors for the final quality of pork. Animals submitted to stress effects from the time of departure from the farm of origin until the time of slaughter will present quality deviations in the final product. In this context, with the objective of determining the effects of the distance from the farm to the slaughterhouse and the type of vehicle transporting the animals to be slaughtered on the final quality of pork meat, a study was conducted in a slaughterhouse located in the State Inspection Service - SIE in the central region of the State of Rondônia (RO), with a daily slaughter capacity of 120 animals. For that, fifteen animals were selected from 2 sample lots of pigs with the same age, slaughter weight and lineage in two realities in relation to distance and type of transport vehicle (Lot 01/Mato Grosso, 1,008 km away from the slaughterhouse transported with specific trailer for the transport of swine with a transport time of 21 hours and, Lot 02/Rondônia, 125 km away from the slaughterhouse, transported in a cage-type cattle trailer for the transport of cattle, with a transport time of 3.5 hours). After carrying out the in loco and laboratory analyzes (hot and cold carcass weight, pH, color, water retention capacity, weight loss by cooking), it was found that there was a higher incidence of DFD meat in animals transported for a long time even using specific transport for swine. Thus, it was concluded that the distance/time of transport is the main factor during pre slaughter management in relation to the quality of pork.