In terms of meat quality, few differences were found (Table 2). VM had a higher (P = 0.048) pH45LT than CF and the pHuLT was lower in VM than in CF, VF and CM. So, again the most different product is those obtained from VM. Regarding the sensory characteristics VM showed a higher rancidity (aroma and flavor) than the other four remaining sexes (P = 0.001 and P < 0.0001 respectively) and CF presented higher (P = 0.002) sweetness than EF and VM (Table 3). In terms of texture VMs were harder (P = 0.026) than VF and tend (P = 0.056) to be less juicy than CF. However, as the objective of the present study was to achieve if vaccination against GnRF can be an alternative to surgical castrated females and entire females by one side and/or to surgical castrated males by another side, both genders were analyzed separately as well.
Table 2.
Meat quality of surgically castrated females (CF), entire females (EF), GnRF vaccinated females (VF), surgically castrated males (CM) and GnRF vaccinated males (VM) of Iberian pigs reared in extensive conditions and slaughtered at 15–16 months old.