News
Improving meat quality with Piétrain NN by Nucléus
NUCLEUS has got a large population of Piétrain NN with manys records at slaugtherhouse (pH6 - ph24 ham and loin-drip loss). Improvement on meat quality is only able with many records at slaughterhouse. That's exactly what NUCLEUS is doing.
pH and drip loss measurement in slaughterhouse
Purebred animals from Nucléus’s breeding farms are monitored at the slaughterhouse. In addition to carcass conformation informations, Nucléus record the pH of many animals. The pH is measured at the slaughterhouse 6 hours and then 24 hours post mortem at 2 places on the carcass: on the loin and the ham. Drip loss is also measured by collecting a muscle sample from the loin, which is weighed at 24 hours and 72 hours after slaughter to obtain drip loss.
Pietrain Breeding Goal
Meat quality represents more than a quarter of the actual breeding goal in Pietrain. Feed efficiency is the first criterion, followed by meat quality.
For several years, meat quality has been an important part of the breeding goal. Nucleus focuses on this criterion by tracking more carcasses each year for pH and drip loss measurements. In this way, many progresses are observed, allowing a better valorization of the products.
