Characteristics of depot fats in Chinese Jinhua pigs

At the age of 6 mouths, characteristics of depot fat in Chinese Jinhua barrows were determined and compared with those in Chinese Meishan and Landrace barrows fed the same diet. The fat from the Jinhua pigs had a higher melting point and a lower iodine value compared with that from the Meishan and Landrace pigs. The fatty acid composition of fats from different tissues in the Jinhua pigs was determined by gas chromatography. In the Jinhua pigs the percentage of the stearic acid was lower and the percentage of the oleic acid was higher in back fat and loin fat than that in perinephric fat. Loin fat had a greater amount of palmitoleic acid. The ratios of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids in perinephric, back and loin fats were 1.19, 1.98, and 2.15, respectively. The breed difference in the fatty acid composition of the perinephric fat was determined. No difference was found for the amount of stearic acid in the fat between the Jinhua and Landrace pigs, but the amount of that in the Meishan pigs was markedly low. The oleic acid content of fat in Jinhua pigs was lower than that in Meishan and Landrace pigs. The ratios of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids in the Jinhua, Landrace, and Meishan pigs were 1.19, 1.37, and 1.68, respectively. These results indicate that the fat in the Jinhua pigs is harder than that in the Meishan and Landrace pigs