The effect of adding dietary ractopamine on meat quality of dominant homozygote (HalNN) and heterozygote (HalNn) halothane animal genotypes was evaluated in this trial. During the experiment (21days), it was used 24 barrows and 12 gilts (half of each halothane genotype) averaging 72.6 kg initial BW. The experiment was analyzed as a randomized block with a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement (two halothane genotypes, two diets: control and with 10 ppm of ractopamine and two categories: barrows and gilts). The genomic DNA evaluation was performed by PCR-RLPC. Longissimus dorsi muscle was used for measurement of initial pH (pH45), final pH (pH24) and drip, chilling and cooking losses, meat color, marbleness, and objective softness. No effect of genotype ´ ractopamine interaction on meat characteristic was noticed. Meat of HalNN animals did no show thawing loss and paler (PSE) while that of HalNn had about 33.3% of PSE. Ractopamine did not affect meat quality parameters. Meat of HalNn animals had lower quality than those of HalNN pigs. Meat from barrows presented lower final pH and higher PSE incidence than gilts.
halothane genotype; meat quality; PSE meat
