Fatty acid composition of the intramuscular fat in the longissimus thoracis muscle of Apulo-Calabrese and crossbreed pigs

The aim of this study was to investigate the fatty acid profile of thelongissimus thoracismuscle in two genetictypes of pigs. Fifty one pigs of the Italian local breed Apulo-Calabrese and 52 crossbreeds [Duroc x (Landrace xLarge White)] were fed the same commercial diet and reared in the same indoor system. Fatty acid compositionwas assessed through Folch method and the obtained data were analysed with a mixed model to identify possibledifferences between the two genetic types. The Apulo-Calabrese pigs showed significantly higher contents ofheptadecenoic acid (P< 0.0001), myristic (P= 0.03), arachidic (P= 0.04), myristoleic (P= 0.004), palmi-toleic (P= 0.01) and gondoic (P= 0.01) acids. On the other hand, crossbreed samples presented highercontents of docosahexaenoic (P= 0.01) and arachidonic acid (P= 0.01). Except for heptadecenoic acid, there were no great differences inlongissimus thoracismuscle fatty acid profile between the two genetic types, suggesting that when Apulo-Calabrese pigs are managed in the same rearing conditions as crossbreeds their longissimus thoracis muscle fatty acid composition is similar.