Sensory characteristics and processing yield of boneless hams obtained from gilts administered exogenous porcine somatotropin

Two studies were conducted to evaluate effects of administration of porcine somatotropin (pST) to growing gilts on subsequent processing and sensory characteristics of porcine ham muscles. The Semimembranosus muscle was separated from the other major muscles prior to pumping to 120% of green weight with a brine solution. Treatment with pST in vivo increased the weight of Semimembranosus compared with controls (P < 0.05). The muscle weight gains associated with pST treatment were retained during ham processing, resulting in heavier hams from gilts administered pST. However, pST treatment did not affect ham processing yields (%), smoked ham color, final product proximate composition or important palatability characteristics of hams (P > 0.05).