Optimised fatty acid profile in pig meat.

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With this project, Nortura will receive access to slaughter pigs with a changed fatty acid profile, which is highly innovative for the pig meat industry. All actions will be tested towards overall meat and fat quality traits, with the main goal being to p roduce pig meat products with a better technological quality and a favourable fatty acid profile for human nutrition. Pig meat high in MUFA, mainly omega-9 oleic acid with an optimal omega-6/omega-3 PUFA ratio, is assumed to be favourable for nutritio nal, palatable and technological qualities for pig meat products. In addition, the pigs should have high lean meat content and an optimal level of intramuscular fat. Our hypothesis is that omega-9 is most efficiently increased with breeding, while the ome ga-6/omega-3 PUFA ratio is most efficiently decreased with a new diet for the pigs. To achieve these goals, a combination of genetics and feeding-related actions will be tested in this project. For all traits, the quantity and fatty acid composition of s ubcutaneous and intramuscular fat, the fat moisture content of subcutaneous fat and the prediction abilities for new, rapid measuring methods will be tested with computed tomography, ultrasound and near-infrared spectroscopy. A new genetic selection met hod for pig meat quality traits will be developed using a combination of traditional breeding and genome-based selection. Norwegian Landrace and Duroc pigs will be used for these genetic analyses. The feeding-related activity will be feeding experiments c onducted with a greater use of locally produced oilseeds such as canola oil from rapeseed, which has a high level of omega-3 and a low level of omega-6 fatty acids. Finally, this project will attempt to develop new high-quality dried ham, sausage and sm oked sausage products with respect to a optimised fatty acid composition. These products will be thoroughly investigated to be the best for eating quality for choosy consumers, as well as optimising the fatt