肉质品质真的重要吗？跟加工也有重大关系

　　肉质品质真的重要吗？　　　　Does Meat Quality Really Matter?　　　　Derek Petry博士　　　　Derek Petry, Ph.D.　　　　关于猪肉品质的讨论不一定是新话题，但加工商对猪肉品质的讨论和行动的势头却很积极。大多数生产商似乎对肉质不感兴趣，因为没有经济上的动机来提高质量，所以只关注饲养动物的效率(比如饲料转化率、生长速度和母猪产量)。十多年来，美国的猪肉需求趋势一直保持平稳，而其他国家(例如中国)或全球的需求则显著增加(如图1)。如果这是真的，而且美国希望进入对肉质有需求的出口市场的话(Gale和Huang，2007)，那么针对肉质的选择确实很重要。　　　　The conversation about meat quality in pork is not necessarily a new topic, however the momentum of the discussion and action by packers is. Most producers seem to have little interest in meat quality because there is no financial incentive to have better quality so the focus is only on efficiency of raising the animals (i.e. feed conversion, growth rate, and sow productivity). The trend of pork demand has been flat for well over a decade in the US, whereas other countries (i.e. China) or globally the demand has increased significantly (Figure 1). So if this is true and the US wants to be in the export market where quality is demanded (Gale and Huang, 2007), then selecting for meat quality does matter.　　　　因为没有设定明确的肉质目标，所以很难定义肉质，而范围通常被用来帮助对“更好的”肉质分级。可联想到的行业平均肌内脂肪含量大约是2.0-2.2%，pH值是5.6-5.8，肉色(主观)是3。许多东西会影响肉类的pH和颜色，包括:饮食、处理、动物体型、动物的加工方式和健康水平(Ngapo和Gariepy，2008)。在加工过程中，如果任何一个步骤被过度处理，都可能对最终成品产生重大影响。从猪只失去知觉到胴体冷藏的分割时间可以彻底改变猪肉的pH值和颜色。通常情况下，胴体分割过程需要45分钟，但是如果在分割过程中出现了问题或者发生意外，即使合适的原料被分割了，也可能会出现苍白、柔软和渗出(PSE)的情况。　　　　Defining meat quality can be difficult as specific targets are not set, but rather ranges are used to help classify “better” quality. When thinking about industry averages intramuscular fat is around 2.0-2.2%, pH is 5.6-5.8, and color (subjective) is 3. Many things can impact pH and color of meat including: diet, handling, size of animal, how the animal is processed, and health (Ngapo and Gariepy, 2008). If any of these steps in the process are abused it can have major impacts on the final product. When being harvested the time from stun to chill can drastically change the pH and color of the meat. Normally it would take ~45 min for the harvest process to take place but if something goes wrong during the process or some hindrance occurs; pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) is likely to occur even though the right raw material was brought for harvest.　　　　消费者想要一种好的饮食体验(多汁、鲜嫩、美味)，然而猪肉行业却要求高效的动物。由于主要专注于生产效率的选择(例如饲料转化率)，而不考虑肉质(例如肌内脂肪含量，颜色，pH值)，许多基因公司生产的猪肉并不符合消费者的需求，当消费者吃猪肉的时候就决定不再做回头客，这些公司把猪肉需求推向了错误的方向。有利益的肉质性状可能与生产效率性状相对立(van Wijk，H.J.，2005)，然而基因组学的力量给这些表型提供了更精确的EBV，并且能够帮助打破这些关联，使得遗传学家们能够对生产效率和口味性状进行选择。如果我们想要改善全球和国内的猪肉需求，我们别无选择，只能将饮食体验的性状纳入遗传评估。　　　　Consumers want a good eating experience (juiciness, tenderness, and flavor), however the pork industry has demanded high efficiency animals. With selection being heavily focused on efficiency (i.e. FCR) and not accounting for quality (i.e. IMF, color, pH) many genetic companies have produced pork that the consumer does not want and when they do eat pork decide they won’t be a repeat customer, driving the demand for pork in the wrong direction. Quality traits of interest can be antagonistic with efficiency traits (van Wijk, H. J., et al., 2005), however the power of genomics gives a more accurate EBV of these phenotypes and can assist in breaking these relationships allowing geneticists to select for efficiency and taste. If we want to improve the demand for pork both globally and domestically we have no choice but to incorporate eating experience traits into the eva luation.　　　　自1998年以来，加裕公司已经决定将重点放在可以直接测量的肉类品质上。在行业中，加裕的杜洛克以极快的生长速度和最优的猪肉品质而闻名。基因组学的力量加快了基因改良的有效性。当加裕持续通过解剖和基因组学来检验动物时，就产生了最有效的方法来选择胴体品质和猪肉质量，同时打破了肉质与生长效率的对立关系。随着该行业的不断发展，肉类品质的不断提升，加裕的杜洛克将会在竞争中领先一步，因为我们专注于提高效率，同时保持较佳的饮食体验。　　　　Genesus has made the decision to focus on meat quality by directly measuring it since 1998. The Genesus Duroc is known specifically for extreme growth and the best meat quality in the industry. The power of genomics accelerates the effectiveness of genetic improvement. As Genesus continues to test animals through dissections and genomics, this gives rise to the most effective way to select for carcass merit and meat quality while breaking apart antagonistic relationships. As the industry continues to evolve and the push for meat quality continues to grow the Genesus Duroc will be a step ahead of the competition because we have focused on efficient improvement while maintaining the best eating experience.　　　　图1　　　　　　全球猪肉消费　　　　https://gro-intelligence.com/insights/china-pork-consumption　　　　参考文献　　　　References　　　　Gale, F.和 Huang, K. 2007. 中国对食品数量和质量的需求.ERR-32. 美国农业部经济研究所，美国农业部。　　　　Gale, F. and Huang, K. 2007. Demand for Food Quantity and Quality in China. ERR-32. Economic Research Service, USDA.　　　　Ngapo, T.M., and Gariépy, C. 2008. 影响猪肉食用品质的因素. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 48(7): 599–63　　　　Ngapo, T.M., and Gariépy, C. 2008. Factors affecting the eating quality of pork. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 48(7): 599–63　　　　van Wijk, H. J., et al., 2005. 商业化的生产链中胴体成分和猪肉品质的遗传参数估计. J. Anim. Sci. 83(2): 324-33.　　　　van Wijk, H. J., et al., 2005. Genetic parameters for carcass composition and pork quality estimated in a commercial production chain. J. Anim. Sci. 83(2): 324-33.