Analysis of quality indices of pork hip on the Lithuanian market

The aim of the study was to analyse quality indices of pork from the Lithuanian market. Samples of boneless pork hip meat were analysed. The country of origin were Lithuania. Poland and Germany. Samples were selected randomly in supermarkets and were analysed by standard methods. Chemical and technological characteristics were determined, sensory analysis was carried out also. No dependency was found between country of origin and amount of fat and cholesterol in meat. Short chain fatty acids (such as lauric, myristic, palmitic) dominated in imported pork. Polish pork had the highest amount of volatile fatty acids. Qualitative differences between fresh meat samples were not determined, as there were no significant differences between the amount of protein, protein without collagen, and connective tissue in fresh meat, cooking and defrosting losses. Comparison of fresh meat colour characteristics showed the same lightness L* level for all samples, the highest coordinate a* for Polish samples, and the lowest coordinate b* for Lithuanian samples. Colour characteristics of cooked boneless pork hip samples did not differ significantly.