Relationships between EUROP carcass grading and backfat fatty acid composition in Italian Large White heavy pigs

The amount and quality of covering adipose tissue affect the suitability of hind legs for the production of high-quality seasoned hams. To date, no studies exist on the correlation between EUROP carcass classification and backfat fatty acid (FA) composition in heavy pigs used for dry-cured hams. A sample of 898 Italian Large White heavy pigs was used to verify the relationship between carcass classification based on lean meat percentage and backfat FA composition. A Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA) was used to verify the power of individual FA and FA categories in discriminating among EUROP classes. The results proved that saturated FAs (i.e. palmitic, stearic and arachidic acids) and the n-6 polyunsaturated FAs have the highest discriminating power, thus permitting to differentiate among E, U, R, O carcass classes. For the first time, this work demonstrates the relationship between EUROP pig carcass grading, which is only based on an estimate of the percentage of lean meat, and backfat FA composition. •The backfat FA composition affects the quality of seasoned hams.•We found that EUROP pig carcass grading is related to backfat FA composition.•R and O carcasses are characterized by higher contents of SFAs in backfat tissue.•E and U carcasses have higher percentages of linoleic acid in backfat.•EUROP grading also provides information on the backfat FA composition.