For that reason the Duroc line, which had intermediate carcass quality characteristics and the highest intramuscular fat (together with the Meishan; Plastow et al., 2005) is
popular in Spain, due to its good meat quality and its suitability for high quality dry cured products. In fact, the quality of Duroc hams was judged to be better than hams
from breeds with higher conformation (Arnau, Guerrero, Maneja, & Gou, 1992). Cilla et al. (2006) compared three different Duroc crosses and, although there were sensory differences among them, the consumers’ overall acceptability was similar. Guerrero, Gou, Alonso, and Arnau (1996) also found differences in the sensory characteristics of drycured hams produced from different genetic types. The Duroc line showed the best characteristics for high quality dry cured ham manufacture compared to the purebreeds Pie´train and Belgian Landrace and to the F1 Landrace
Large White. Pigs from the Pie´train and Belgian Landrace breeds showed important texture defects and holes.