Destructured meat in the pork industry : combined effects of transport and resting time before slaughter on the frequency of the appearance of this defect

The influence of the combined effects of transport time (1 h vs. 3 h) and resting time at the slaughterhouse (2 h vs. 6 h) were studied on the frequency of destructured ham. All pigs were fasted for 24 h. Pigs from the same farm and genetic background were slaughtered at the same facility in 8 batches (2 per season).In this study, the frequency of destructured ham was very low, less than 5 % of the 1126 deboned hams were concerned by this defect, and only 1.5 % of the hams were severely or totally destructured (scores 3 and 4). When the period of fasting was constant, the frequency of the defect was significantly effected by transport time (P