5. Conclusion
Our results demonstrate that organically produced pigs fedad libitum concentrate without silage produce carcasses and meat of a high quality similar to pigs fed nonorganically. However, restricted feeding of organic cereals (70%) plus silage ad libitum resulted in tougher meat with too little vitamin E, although the carcasses were of higher quality with a lower fat content. The higher intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the organically fed pigs both from organic concentrate and silage was reflected in the meat and fat of the carcass. This may lead to rancidity and a WOF problem during storage and processing of the meat. This observation suggests that other methods of environ-mental enrichment and feeding systems are required to mainta in meat quality under organic production systems.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank ‘‘Strukturdirektoratet’’ for financial support of this project. We also appreciate the assistance of manager Kjeld Mortensen, Rugballegaard and technicalstaff members, Jens Askov Jensen and Holger Thrane, DIAS, and Mianne Darré, DMRI.