Effect of stun duration and current level applied during head to back and head only electrical stunning of pigs on pork quality compared with pigs stunned with CO2

Abstract

The effect of current, duration and method of application of manual electrical stunning on pork carcass and meat quality attributes in comparison with stunning pigs with CO(2) was investigated. Two experiments were conducted using a total of 96 Large White×Landrace boars (homozygous dominant for the halothane gene). In Experiment 1, 48 pigs were allocated to one of six stunning treatments: CO(2) (90% in air), electrical stunning (ES) using head only (HO) tongs delivering current at a frequency of 50 Hz at 1.3 or 2.0 A for 4 s and 0.9, 1.3 or 2.0 A for 19 s. Higher drip loss occurred in M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscles from ES pigs, except those stunned with 0.9 A for 19 s, c..