Animal welfare is a concept that includes both their physical and mental health, and although there are indicators on the comfort, hunger, health or injuries that a specimen may suffer, there are still measures to be developed on the emotional state of the animals of farm. "In a previous investigation we realized that the emotional state of the pig can modify biochemical and cellular parameters of its organism , which in turn can be used as markers of stress ", explains Antonio Velarde, researcher in charge of ANEMOMA. The new project aims to go further and evaluate the effect of sex, genotype, and handling conditions on cognitive bias and identify stress biomarkers before and during slaughter (ante and peri-mortem phases, respectively), in the blood. , saliva, brain, intestine and meat of these animals.
Can the emotional state of the pig affect the quality of its meat?
This is the question that scientists from the Institute for Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA) intend to answer by combining physiological and behavioral analyzes of the animal. The Animal Markers and Emotion or (ANEMOMA) project will study the relationship between the emotional state of pigs and the quality of the pork that reaches the final consumer, both on the farm and in the slaughterhouse, considering the behavior and the physiological biomarkers of the pig and those of the meat.
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