Comparison of antioxidant compounds in pig meat from Italian autochthonous pig Suino Nero Lucano and a modern crossbred pig before and after cooking

This study aimed to evaluate and compare the antioxidant compounds of raw and cooked Longissimus lumbontm muscles from Suino Nero Lucano (SNL) and a modern crossbred (CG) pig. Vitamin E, phenols, histidine-containing peptides, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity have been detected in the raw and cooked meat of both genetic types. Cooking process decreased the content of all considered antioxidant compounds (P < 0.05). The antioxidant compounds of meat were significantly influenced by genetic type (P < 0.001). Autochthonous SNL raw and cooked meat showed a higher endogenous antioxidants content (P < 0.001) and SOD activity (P < 0.02) compared to CG meat. The results of this research highlighted that the pig meat, in particular autochthonous pig meat, showed good concentrations of endogenous antioxidant compounds that could confer functional properties to the product.