The fat and cholesterol contents, and fatty acid composition in Longissimus dorsi (LD)
muscle differ between purebred and crossbred pigs was determined. Duroc purebred (D, n=10),
two-way crossbred (Largewhite x Landrace; LWLR, n = 10), and three-way crossbred [Duroc x
(Largewhite x Landrace); DLWLR, n=10] pigs were used in this study. Each group consisted of
2 genders (5 barrows and 5 gilts). All pigs were reared under the same housing and feeding
conditions for 6 months until slaughtered at 110 ± 5 kg live weight, following which, LD
muscle was collected from the left side of each carcass for subsequent analyses. The results
showed that D had higher (P<0.01) fat percentage than LWLR and DLWLR. Neither pig group
nor gender affected cholesterol content (P > 0.05). For fatty acid composition, D presented
highest concentrations of C14:0, C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1n9c, C18:2n6c, C18:2n6c, C20:1,
SFA (saturated fatty acid), MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acid), and PUFA (polyunsaturated
fatty acid) than those recorded in samples obtained from DLWLR and LWLR (P<0.01).
DLWLR had significantly higher concentrations of C16:1, C18:1n9c and MUFA (P<0.05), with
a tendency of higher concentration of C16:0, C18:0, C18:2n6c, C20:1, SFA, and PUFA than
LWLR (P<0.1). The ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acid (P/S) was more favorable in
LWLR compared with those of D and DLWLR (P<0.01). There was a significant group x
gender interaction for the concentration of C23:0 (P<0.05). In Duroc purebred pigs, higher
amount of C23:0 was observed in gilts than that in the barrow. However, barrow of DLWLR
showed higher C23:0 than the amount recorded in the gilts. Fat percentage positively correlated
with the concentrations of C14:0, C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1n9c, C18:2n6c, C20:1, C23:0,
SFA, MUFA, PUFA, and P/S (P <0.01) but negatively correlated with C23:0 (P<0.05).