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Special Issue "Innovative Production Strategies for High-Quality, Traditional Pig Products – 2nd Edition"

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A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Pigs".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2023 | Viewed by 1838

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Giovanna Martelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia, BO, Italy
Interests: animal welfare; pig production; meat quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Eleonora Nannoni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pork production, in its broadest meaning, ranging from the choice of the genetic type of animals to the qualitative characteristics of the final product, will face highly demanding challenges in the very near future.

The European citizens' initiative, "End the cage age", is an unequivocal demonstration of consumers' increased sensitivity towards animal welfare issues. Significant legislative changes are expected shortly in this direction. At the same time, the European Green Deal requires a substantial review of the traditional approach to pig farming to direct it towards ever higher levels of sustainability. This evolution will not only concern Europe but will affect all nations.

The production of typical, high-quality, pork-based products (e.g., PDO and PGI products) must be able to quickly and efficiently incorporate these changes to avoid being penalized, considering the solid ethical content that consumers attribute to food products of excellence.

The meat used for producing these high-quality delicacies needs to be suitable for seasoning and dry-curing, and these characteristics are the result of complex interactions between the animal (breed, genotype, rearing condition, feeding regime, age, weight at slaughter, etc.) and the environment, without disregarding the importance of ethical attributes such as animal welfare and environmental impacts.

More specifically, this Special Issue focuses on all the innovative (or alternative) production strategies for pigs intended for high-quality, typical productions (in terms of the higher sustainability of the whole production chain, including social implications, improvements to animal welfare, innovative feeding and farming techniques, reductions in environmental impact, reductions in drugs use, the use of new additives, improvements in meat and fat quality, etc.), with special emphasis on PDOs, PGIs, and other recognized production schemes, and it is aimed at providing new insights for a wide range of stakeholders from different countries.

Prof. Dr. Giovanna Martelli
Dr. Eleonora Nannoni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

pig
traditional products
geographical indication
meat quality
fat quality
animal welfare
feeding
sustainability
pig farming
pig breeding

Related Special Issues

Innovative Production Strategies for High-Quality, Traditional Pig Products – 2nd Edition in Animals (3 articles)
Innovative Production Strategies for High-Quality, Traditional Pig Products – 2nd Edition in Animals (3 articles)

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Lavender Essential Oil Inhalation on the Welfare and Meat Quality of Fattening Heavy Pigs Intended for Parma Ham Production

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Animals 2023, 13(18), 2967; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13182967 - 20 Sep 2023

Viewed by 101

Abstract

We assessed the effects of inhalation administration of lavender essential oil (LEO) either once (L1) or twice (L2) a day on animal welfare indicators, carcass and meat quality of Italian heavy pigs. Pigs (n = 108) were allotted to three experimental groups (control -C-, L1 and L2) and lavender was administered, via a vaporizer device, to the treated groups during the entire fattening–finishing period (79–160 kg BW). Tail lesion severity was reduced in L1 at the end of the trial compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). Body lesion counts, however, were higher in L2 than in C (p < 0.05), resulting in a more severe overall damage classification (p < 0.01). At slaughter, no differences were observed in carcass traits or blood stress indicators, only minor differences were observed in meat quality, and no LEO residual was found in fat or lean tissues, highlighting the preserved suitability of thighs for the dry curing process. While it was not possible to conclude on the ability to improve animal welfare of vaporized LEO in this production phase, the absence of adverse effects on meat quality and the discrepancies observed regarding the body lesions in L1 and L2 make further studies on behavioral aspects and the method of administration (route, frequency) of the product desirable. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Production Strategies for High-Quality, Traditional Pig Products – 2nd Edition)

Open AccessArticle

Outdoor Finishing of Intact Male Portuguese Alentejano Pigs on a Sustainable High-Fiber Diet: Impacts on Blood, Growth, Carcass, Meat Quality and Boar Taint Compounds

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Animals 2023, 13(13), 2221; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132221 - 06 Jul 2023

Viewed by 596

Abstract

This trial evaluated the effect of sex on the blood, growth, carcass, meat quality, and boar taint compounds in male Alentejano (AL) pigs (n = 30). From ~40 to 130 kg LW, castrated (C) and intact pigs (I and IExp groups) were fed commercial diets ad libitum. Between ~130 and 160 kg (slaughter), C and I pigs continued on commercial diets, while IExp were fed an experimental diet containing locally produced pulses and by-products aimed at reducing boar taint. At ~160 kg, blood urea levels were higher in IExp than C pigs, triacylglycerols were lower in both intact groups, and cortisol was lower in IExp. IExp pigs exhibited faster growth, improved feed conversion ratio, carcass higher commercial yield and leaner meat than C pigs. The loin intramuscular fat in intact pigs was lower, less saturated and more polyunsaturated, while total collagen was higher. Fat androstenone content was higher in intact pigs and skatole content was similar across treatments, although they were below threshold values for consumer detection. Finally, although boar taint compounds were low in intact AL pigs raised outdoors, adding pulses and by-products to the experimental diet did not result in a reduction in fat skatole content compared to pigs fed the commercial diet. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Production Strategies for High-Quality, Traditional Pig Products – 2nd Edition)

Open AccessArticle

RNA-Seq Study on the Longissimus thoracis Muscle of Italian Large White Pigs Fed Extruded Linseed with or without Antioxidants and Polyphenols

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Animals 2023, 13(7), 1187; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13071187 - 28 Mar 2023

Viewed by 781

Abstract

The addition of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) to the swine diet increases their content in muscle cells, and the additional supplementation of antioxidants promotes their oxidative stability. However, to date, the functionality of these components within muscle tissue is not well understood. Using a published RNA-seq dataset and a selective workflow, the study aimed to find the differences in gene expression and investigate how differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were implicated in the cellular composition and metabolism of muscle tissue of 48 Italian Large White pigs under different dietary conditions. A functional enrichment analysis of DEGs, using Cytoscape, revealed that the diet enriched with extruded linseed and supplemented with vitamin E and selenium promoted a more rapid and massive immune system response because the overall function of muscle tissue was improved, while those enriched with extruded linseed and supplemented with grape skin and oregano extracts promoted the presence and oxidative stability of n-3 PUFAs, increasing the anti-inflammatory potential of the muscular tissue. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Production Strategies for High-Quality, Traditional Pig Products – 2nd Edition)

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