An experiment was conducted to determine if the macro- and micromineral contents of the ham and loin or the remaining body component differed by genetic line, sex, or BW. The experiment was a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement (2 × 2 × 5) using barrows and gilts of 2 genetic lines at 5 BW intervals in 2 groups with 6 replicates (n = 120 pigs). Pigs were housed in groups of 5 per pen and removed when individual pigs reached their targeted BW. Twelve pigs (3 from each genetic line and sex) were killed at 23 kg of BW and at 25-kg intervals up to 125 kg of BW. After slaughter, loin and ham muscles were dissected and trimmed of fat, with the ham deboned. This muscle mass constituted the first body compartment. The trimming from these muscles, ham bones, the remaining body, internal tissues, skin, and head were combined and constituted the second body component. The data were analyzed by PROC MIXED using the animal as the experimental unit. Muscle weights and their protein contents differed between the high- and the low-lean pigs and barrows and gilts and also among 5 BW groups/intervals. Total macro- and micromineral contents in the loin and ham were greater in the high-lean genetic line and gilts and increased as BW increased. Genetic line × BW and sex × BW interactions occurred for the macrominerals and for Fe, Se, and Zn, with contents diverging, and were greater as BW increased in high-lean pigs and gilts. The weight and protein content of the remaining body component was greater in the high-lean genetic line but not for the 2 sexes. In this body component, macromineral contents were greater as BW increased, as were the microminerals Fe, Se, and Zn. When the minerals were expressed on a per kilogram of body component basis, the ham and loin mineral compositions were similar for both genetic lines and sexes, but Na and Cl declined as BW increased. Most microminerals showed a small increase with BW. In the remaining body component, Ca increased in the low-lean line, whereas K was greater in the high-lean genetic line. When expressed on a unit protein basis, the low-lean genetic line had more macrominerals in the loin and ham than the high-lean genetic line. These results indicate that high-lean genetic line pigs and gilts have greater total macro- and micromineral contents in the ham and loin than the low-lean pigs, thus indicating that their dietary mineral needs are greater during the latter part of the finisher period in heavier muscled pigs.
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