Comparison of Growth Performance and Meat Quality Traits of Commercial Cross-bred Pig versus Large Black Pig Breeds

Improving meat quality is becoming a big emphasis in the meat industry currently. The meat quality of pigs under the same diet and environment could present different meat quality if they have diverse genetic backgrounds. Large Black pig is a British native pig breed which is famous for its hardness and resistance to extensive farming; compared with the commercial cross-bred pigs, they have slower growth rate.. The aim of this study is to investigate the carcass and meat quality traits of Large Black Pigs and commercial cross-bred pigs in relation to their transcriptome profiles, and consequently clarify the phenotypic and genotypic differences between these two groups of pigs. The results showed that Large Black pigs had better intramuscular fat content than Commercial Cross-bred pigs, while the growth performance of commercial cross-bred pigs was better, and the genotype differences between these two groups of pigs may cause the meat quality and growth performance variance. The outcome of the study provided new sights into the adoption of Large Black breed in the pig industry.