In Italy more than 80% of pig production is destined to the traditional Italian dry cured ham market. The content in polyunsaturated fatty acids is critical for the development of off-flavour during the 13 months curing process hence the content of linoleic acid (C18:2) in the pig diet is strictly limited to 2%. Fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2) is the rate limiting enzyme in the production of arachidonic acid (AA) from linoleic acid (LA) and is therefore a candidate gene to explain the differences observed in the arachidonic acid content in L. dorsi and backfat.
Though sequencing, a SNP was observed in the third exon of FADS2. One hundred and six animals were genotyped by PCR-RFLP for this mutation and fatty acid profiles were determined by gas chromatography for backfat and L. dorsi intramuscular fat. Single locus genotype association analyses using the General Linear Mixed Model in SPSS were carried out. Significant associations were found between FADS2 polymorphism and the ratio of AA to LA in backfat (P<0.001) and in L.dorsi (P<0.01) and with the concentrations of AA in backfat and L.dorsi (P<0.0001; P<0.01) respectively. Our findings suggest that the FADS2 polymorphism is associated with dietary and processing quality of dry cured ham.
