Black Iberian pig
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Country of origin | Iberian Peninsula |
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Traits | |
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The Iberian pig is a traditional
The most commonly accepted theory is that the pigs were first brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the
The numbers of the Iberian breed have been drastically reduced since 1960 due to several factors such as the outbreak of
This traditional breed exhibits a good appetite and propensity to obesity, including a great capacity to accumulate intramuscular and epidermal fat. The high intramuscular fat is what produces the typical marbling; this, together with traditional feeding based on acorns, is what makes its ham taste so special. Iberian pigs are interesting from a human biomedical perspective because they present high feed intake and propensity to obesity, compatible with high values of serum leptin.[3]
The Iberian pig can be either red or dark in colour, if black ranging from dark to grey, with little or no hair and a lean body, thus giving rise to the familiar name pata negra, or "black hoof". In traditional management, animals ranged freely in sparse oak forest (dehesa in Spain, montado in Portugal), they are constantly moving around and therefore burn more calories than confined pigs. This, in turn, produces the fine bones typical of this kind of jamón ibérico.
At least a hectare of healthy dehesa is needed to raise a single pig, and since the trees may be several hundred years old, the prospects for reforesting lost dehesa are slim at best. True dehesa is a richly diverse habitat with four different types of oak that are crucial in the production of prime-quality ham. The bulk of the acorn harvest comes from the holm oak (
See also
References
- Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
- ^ E Fabuel, E; Barragán, C; Silió, L; Rodríguez, L C and Toro, M A Analysis of genetic diversity and conservation priorities in Iberian pigs based on microsatellite markers Heredity (2004) 93, 104–113, advance online publication 19 May 2004
- ^ Fernandez-Figares I et al 2007: Serum profile of metabolites and hormones in obese (Iberian) and lean (Landrace) growing gilts fed balanced or lysine deficient diets. Livest Sci, 110:73-81.
- ^ Eveleigh, Mark Free little pigs Archived May 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine December 2007
- ^ Harris, Don The Wild West of Spain Archived 2008-03-22 at the Wayback Machine October 2005