您想過沒？肉質品質真的重要嗎？

關於豬肉品質的討論不一定是新話題，但加工商對豬肉品質的討論和行動的勢頭卻很積極。大多數生產商似乎對肉質不感興趣，因為沒有經濟上的動機來提高質量，所以只關注飼養動物的效率(比如飼料轉化率、生長速度和母豬產量)。十多年來，美國的豬肉需求趨勢一直保持平穩，而其他國家(例如中國)或全球的需求則顯著增加(如圖1)。如果這是真的，而且美國希望進入對肉質有需求的出口市場的話(Gale和Huang，2007)，那麼針對肉質的選擇確實很重要。

The conversation about meat quality in pork is not necessarily a new topic, however the momentum of the discussion and action by packers is. Most producers seem to have little interest in meat quality because there is no financial incentive to have better quality so the focus is only on efficiency of raising the animals (i.e. feed conversion, growth rate, and sow productivity). The trend of pork demand has been flat for well over a decade in the US, whereas other countries (i.e. China) or globally the demand has increased significantly (Figure 1). So if this is true and the US wants to be in the export market where quality is demanded (Gale and Huang, 2007), then selecting for meat quality does matter.

因為沒有設定明確的肉質目標，所以很難定義肉質，而範圍通常被用來幫助對「更好的」肉質分級。可聯想到的行業平均肌內脂肪含量大約是2.0-2.2%，pH值是5.6-5.8，肉色(主觀)是3。許多東西會影響肉類的pH和顏色，包括:飲食、處理、動物體型、動物的加工方式和健康水平(Ngapo和Gariepy，2008)。在加工過程中，如果任何一個步驟被過度處理，都可能對最終成品產生重大影響。從豬只失去知覺到胴體冷藏的分割時間可以徹底改變豬肉的pH值和顏色。通常情況下，胴體分割過程需要45分鐘，但是如果在分割過程中出現了問題或者發生意外，即使合適的原料被分割了，也可能會出現蒼白、柔軟和滲出(PSE)的情況。

Defining meat quality can be difficult as specific targets are not set, but rather ranges are used to help classify 「better」 quality. When thinking about industry averages intramuscular fat is around 2.0-2.2%, pH is 5.6-5.8, and color (subjective) is 3. Many things can impact pH and color of meat including: diet, handling, size of animal, how the animal is processed, and health (Ngapo and Gariepy, 2008). If any of these steps in the process are abused it can have major impacts on the final product. When being harvested the time from stun to chill can drastically change the pH and color of the meat. Normally it would take ~45 min for the harvest process to take place but if something goes wrong during the process or some hindrance occurs; pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) is likely to occur even though the right raw material was brought for harvest.

消費者想要一種好的飲食體驗(多汁、鮮嫩、美味)，然而豬肉行業卻要求高效的動物。由於主要專註於生產效率的選擇(例如飼料轉化率)，而不考慮肉質(例如肌內脂肪含量，顏色，pH值)，許多基因公司生產的豬肉並不符合消費者的需求，當消費者吃豬肉的時候就決定不再做回頭客，這些公司把豬肉需求推向了錯誤的方向。有利益的肉質性狀可能與生產效率性狀相對立(van Wijk，H.J.，2005)，然而基因組學的力量給這些表型提供了更精確的EBV，並且能夠幫助打破這些關聯，使得遺傳學家們能夠對生產效率和口味性狀進行選擇。如果我們想要改善全球和國內的豬肉需求，我們別無選擇，只能將飲食體驗的性狀納入遺傳評估。

Consumers want a good eating experience (juiciness, tenderness, and flavor), however the pork industry has demanded high efficiency animals. With selection being heavily focused on efficiency (i.e. FCR) and not accounting for quality (i.e. IMF, color, pH) many genetic companies have produced pork that the consumer does not want and when they do eat pork decide they won』t be a repeat customer, driving the demand for pork in the wrong direction. Quality traits of interest can be antagonistic with efficiency traits (van Wijk, H. J., et al., 2005), however the power of genomics gives a more accurate EBV of these phenotypes and can assist in breaking these relationships allowing geneticists to select for efficiency and taste. If we want to improve the demand for pork both globally and domestically we have no choice but to incorporate eating experience traits into the evaluation.

自1998年以來，加裕公司已經決定將重點放在可以直接測量的肉類品質上。在行業中，加裕的杜洛克以極快的生長速度和最優的豬肉品質而聞名。基因組學的力量加快了基因改良的有效性。當加裕持續通過解剖和基因組學來檢驗動物時，就產生了最有效的方法來選擇胴體品質和豬肉質量，同時打破了肉質與生長效率的對立關係。隨著該行業的不斷發展，肉類品質的不斷提升，加裕的杜洛克將會在競爭中領先一步，因為我們專註於提高效率，同時保持最佳的飲食體驗。

Genesus has made the decision to focus on meat quality by directly measuring it since 1998. The Genesus Duroc is known specifically for extreme growth and the best meat quality in the industry. The power of genomics accelerates the effectiveness of genetic improvement. As Genesus continues to test animals through dissections and genomics, this gives rise to the most effective way to select for carcass merit and meat quality while breaking apart antagonistic relationships. As the industry continues to evolve and the push for meat quality continues to grow the Genesus Duroc will be a step ahead of the competition because we have focused on efficient improvement while maintaining the best eating experience.

圖1

Figure 1.

全球豬肉消費

參考文獻

References

Gale, F.和 Huang, K. 2007. 中國對食品數量和質量的需求.ERR-32. 美國農業部經濟研究所，美國農業部。

Gale, F. and Huang, K. 2007. Demand for Food Quantity and Quality in China. ERR-32. Economic Research Service, USDA.

Ngapo, T.M., and Gariépy, C. 2008. 影響豬肉食用品質的因素. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 48(7): 599–63

Ngapo, T.M., and Gariépy, C. 2008. Factors affecting the eating quality of pork. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 48(7): 599–63

van Wijk, H. J., et al., 2005. 商業化的生產鏈中胴體成分和豬肉品質的遺傳參數估計. J. Anim. Sci. 83(2): 324-33.

van Wijk, H. J., et al., 2005. Genetic parameters for carcass composition and pork quality estimated in a commercial production chain. J. Anim. Sci. 83(2): 324-33.

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