HealthyPIG Magazine

Since 1960, the Iberian breed's numbers have declined dramatically due to a number of factors, including outbreaks of African swine fever and the reduced value of animal fat. However, in the past few years, the production of Iberian pigs has increased to meet the new demand for high-quality meat and cured products. At the same time, breed specialization has led to the disappearance of some heirloom breeds. This heritage breed exhibits good appetite and obesity tendencies, including the ability to accumulate large amounts of intramuscular and epidermal fat. High intramuscular fat is responsible for the characteristic marbling. This, combined with the traditional acorn-based feeding, is what makes its ham taste so special. The production of meat products from Iberian pigs is very different from other meat products from selected pigs under the intensive conditions of industrial farms and is a good example of high quality and high value meat products. From a human biomedical perspective, Iberian pigs are interesting because of their high feed intake and obesity tendency, compatible with high values ​​of serum leptin