BLACK MALLORQUIN PIG: UNIQUE QUALITY IN THE WORLD
A study shows that Mallorcan black pork has a unique amount of healthy fat
A study carried out over the last three years by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, through the Institute of Animal Biology of the Balearic Islands (Ibabsa) and the Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology of Catalonia (IRTA) has highlighted the peculiarities of the Mallorcan black pig breed, which makes its meat one of the healthiest in the world
According to the study, the black Mallorcan pig has high percentages of unsaturated intramuscular fat (17 percent), well above the content of this fat in the white pig (1-2 percent). In terms of oleic fatty acids, i.e. the type of fat contained in olive oil, the black Mallorcan pig contains exceptional amounts (in some cases more than 50 percent) and far exceeds the content of this type of healthy fat with respect to other pig breeds in the world (25-30 percent).
The Councillor for Agriculture and Fisheries, Mercè Amer, who today inaugurated the 'Conference on the quality of Mallorcan black pig meat at the Balearic Islands School of Catering, asked that "both consumers and producers become aware of the characteristics that make the Mallorcan black pig an animal with great potential, perfectly adapted to the territory, which can be produced extensively, in a sustainable manner and which has unique characteristics and high-quality meat". According to Amer "this rigorous and comprehensive study of the Mallorcan black pig shows that in Mallorca we have a breed of pig with enormous potential and that we should make the most of it".
UNIQUE GENETIC CODE
The specific genes of this breed have been one of the main revelations of this study. The fact that the habitat of the black pig is Mallorca means that the animals undergo a selection process between the arrival of pigs from the different civilisations and cultures that have passed through Mallorca and an adaptation to the local production system. The evolution of the characteristics of the Mallorcan black pig over the last few centuries has developed this specific genome that is unrepeatable anywhere else. The evolution of the characteristics of the Mallorcan black pig over the last centuries has developed this specific genome, unrepeatable anywhere else.
NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS
The benefit of these healthy fats is transferred to all food products derived from the black pig (sobrasada, 'porcella', loin). The qualities of the black pig meat, which is only found in Mallorca and which are shown in this study, allow, therefore, to revalue it with regard to its consumption. Thus, both from IRTA and from the Conselleria, its researchers, Joan Tibau and Jaume Jaume, agree in affirming that "the amount of intramuscular fat of the Mallorcan black pig shows results out of the ordinary that do not appear in any other pig breed of the world and that give the black pig of Mallorca an incomparable quality of its meat".
NEW PROJECTS
The results of this study have opened the door to two new research projects on the black pig around the genetic typing of the breed and its conservation and characterization. In addition, a third project in the European framework has included the black Majorcan pig breed as a breed to be studied in depth.