Cadmium in meat and edible offal of free-range reared Swallow-belly Mangulica pigs from Vojvodina (northern Serbia)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the cadmium concentration in four muscles and 10 edible offal items of 15 free-range reared Swallow-belly Mangulica pigs from Vojvodina, by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after mineralisation by dry ashing. All individual concentrations in muscles and heart, tongue, spinal cord, back fat and leaf fat were below the limit of detection (LOD = 0.050 mg/kg). In lungs, spleen and brain, cadmium concentrations ranked from below LOD, 0.055 and 0.058 to 0.057, 0.065 and 0.074 mg/kg, respectively. The concentration of cadmium in liver and kidney ranged from 0.089 to 0.116 mg/kg and from 0.204 to 0.440 mg/kg, respectively. Cadmium concentrations in liver and kidney of free-range reared Swallow-belly Mangulica pigs slaughtered at about 20 months of age were lower than in liver and kidney of commercial pigs from Vojvodina, slaughtered at about 6 months of age.

Keywords:

• cadmium
• Swallow-belly Mangulica pigs
• meat
• edible offal
• free-range
• Serbia

Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia, project TR31032. The results are also part of the project No 114-451-2618/2012 (Improvement of Meat Quality from Indigenous and Modern Pig Breeds Produced in Vojvodina for the Production of Traditional Dry Fermented Sausages and Dry Cured Meat Products), which is financially supported by the Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological Development, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia.