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Abstract
Pigs of two crosses: A (♀ Duroc × ♂Swedish Landrace) × ♂Pietrain (n=24) and B (♀ Swedish Landrace × ♂Large White) × ♂Pietrain (n=26) were used to investigate the effects of different lairage time (2 and 24 hours) on levels of stress and meat quality traits. No direct effect of lairage time on cortisol, lactate, electrolytes and meat quality parameters was observed. However, after long lairage time, pigs showed lower level of glucose and higher CK, AST and ALT activity. Crossbred B pigs exposed to short lairage time, showed higher blood lactate, sodium, and potassium level, higher drip loss and lower pHi, whereas there were no significant differences between the crossbreeds in the long lairage group. The results indicate that long lairage time decreases blood glucose level and produces signs of muscle damage. In the short lairage period, the crossbreed B showed a higher response to pre-slaughter handling affecting the meat quality.