Estimation of the Amino Acid Composition of Pig Meat and Its Correlation with Pork Quality

The increasing demand for high-quality livestock products dictates to develop approaches to assessing the composition of the amino acids (AAs) in animal tissues. The review considers the following issues: chromatographic methods for the determination of AA composition of pig tissues; factors influencing of AA composition of pig tissues; methods of regulating AAs of pork using nutritional factors; the effect of AA composition on formation of meat properties. The main method for determining of AA composition is the ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography. Not only the total AA amounts, but also some individual AAs and their ratios, have significant effects on the tenderness, taste, color and juiciness of pork meat. Muscle proteins of pigs with regulated fatness differ also in AA composition (decreasing by increase in “pork fat” and decrease in the protein’s amount). The significance of this review is also determined by high popularity of pork in Russia and in a number of other countries of the world.