Influences of Aging Methods and Temperature on Meat Quality of Pork Belly from Purebred Berkshire and Crossbred Landrace×Yorkshire×Duroc (LYD) Pigs

We studied effects of aging methods and temperature on the physical, chemical, and amino acid composition of pork belly from Berkshire and Landrace× Yorkshire×Duroc (LYD) swine. Pork belly samples were assigned randomly to breed groups (Berkshire and LYD), aging temperature groups (0°C and 9°C), and aging method groups. One samples of vacuum-packaged hanging pork bellies were hung in a refrigerated cooler with 83±2.0% humidity, while the other samples were immersed in a 3.5% salt solution in a vacuum package and subsequently stored in the same cooler for 2 weeks. LYD pork had lower pH and purge loss and higher lightness values than those of Berkshire pork (p<0.05). Moreover, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and hardness values of LYD pork were lower than those of Berkshire pork after aging (p<0.05). Berkshire pork had a higher level of flavorful amino acids than LYD pork did during aging (p<0.05). Bellies aged at elevated temperatures for two weeks had higher volatile basic nitrogen. However, significantly higher percentages of flavorful and sweet taste amino acids were observed in bellies aged at 9°C compared to those aged at 0°C for 2 weeks. Moisture content was higher in immersed samples than hanging samples after two weeks of aging (p<0.05). Hanging pork bellies exhibited higher texture profiles than immersed pork bellies at two weeks (p<0.05). We concluded that breeds, aging temperature, and methods affected most quality attributes of pork belly.