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Science:

From muscle health to meat quality

Paweł Suliga
Paweł Suliga, DVM, PhD

Undesirable meat quality traits in pork, particularly ham, can result in reduced product value and processing challenges. Topigs Norsvin scientists are investigating these traits by combining meat science, veterinary medicine, and genetics. The goal is to develop more objective phenotyping tools that can support future genetic selection for healthier muscles and improved pork quality. 

 

Paweł Suliga, DVM, PhD, is a researcher in the HAM project and leads work packages focused on muscle health and meat-quality phenotyping. With a background in veterinary medicine and a PhD in meat science, he investigates muscle changes that develop during the animal’s lifetime and their relationship with meat-quality traits after slaughter. 

“There are two sides to the project,” Suliga says. “One is implementation: developing technologies that can be used in future selection for meat quality. The other is exploratory: understanding why undesirable meat quality traits occurs, including why we occasionally see compromised muscle health in the tissue and how this may be connected to animal health and genetics.” 

 

HAM – Healthy Animals’ Meat: Novel Genetics for Improved Meat Quality and Muscle Health in Pigs 

 

 

Building new phenotypes 

 

 

 

Compared with large-scale genetic testing, the HAM project is hands-on: each meat sample is physically evaluated. The project aims to include around 1,200 animals and collect several new phenotypes related to meat quality and muscle health. 

The longer-term ambition is to identify genetic variants associated with undesirable meat quality. This creates a path from better phenotyping to a deeper understanding of the biology behind the traits and, ultimately, to future selection for improved meat quality. 

New tools for meat-quality phenotyping 

 

A central part of HAM is the development of methods that can make meat-quality evaluation faster, more objective, and suitable for larger numbers of animals. One of these is a bioimpedance-based method, building on technology developed during his PhD to detect structural deterioration in muscle tissue. 

“We are working on a prototype that can be used in routine meat-quality evaluation. The aim is to make the process faster, reduce human bias in the evaluation, and allow us to assess more samples. Ultimately, we want to generate phenotypes that can support genetic selection,” says Suliga. 

HAM is also working with AI-based tissue diagnostics, using microscopic images to identify and characterize changes in muscle tissue more quickly. This can help translate tissue-level changes into information that is more useful for meat-quality evaluation but also for animal health. 

We are working on a prototype that can be used in routine meat-quality evaluation. The aim is to make the process faster, reduce human bias in the evaluation, and allow us to assess more samples.

Paweł Suliga, DVM, PhD

Meat quality is the final expression of the product delivered to the customer.

The challenge of PSE 

Ham with PSE-like defects (pale, soft and exudative).

One area of interest is PSE-like meat, which refers to pale, soft, and exudative meat, characterized by changes in color, texture, and water-holding capacity. PSE-like defects can occur locally within a muscle and are particularly relevant in ham production. 

“PSE-like meat remains a challenge for the pork industry, particularly in the production of premium cured hams,” Suliga says. “These defects often become visible only after carcass cooling and deboning, especially in the deeper muscles of the ham. This makes early detection difficult using only standard meat-quality measurements. That is why we are developing more objective phenotyping methods, such as bioimpedance, to improve the detection of PSE-like hams.” 

“Our first preliminary studies show a promising relationship between bioimpedance measurements and the detection of PSE-like quality problems in ham. By combining bioimpedance with routinely used meat-quality measurements, such as pH, color, and drip loss, we aim to develop a more objective testing protocol that can better predict ham quality.” 

“At the same time, we are investigating whether measurements taken from the loin can provide information about quality in other valuable cuts, such as the ham. The loin is particularly important in routine phenotyping and breeding programs, so if loin measurements can also indicate quality problems elsewhere in the carcass, this could help us develop a more practical and scalable approach to meat-quality testing.” 

Connecting research with market needs 

Meat quality is the final expression of the product delivered to the customer, and requirements differ between markets. For Topigs Norsvin, the aim is therefore not only to maintain consistent meat-quality standards, but also to connect research more closely to challenges reported from different regions. 

“Our goal is always to react quickly to market needs and adapt our research to ongoing challenges, ensuring that Topigs Norsvin customers know we are addressing emerging issues right away,” Suliga says. 

“In our research, we aim to understand why undesireable meat-quality traits occur, improve how we detect and measure them, and develop practical solutions that create value for our customers.” 

Topigs Norsvin experts Caroline Mitchell, Paweł Suliga, and Matthew Schulte attending the 72nd International Congress of Meat Science and Technology (ICOMST) in Daejeon, South Korea. The team presented the latest findings from the HAM project. 

About the Author

Paweł Suliga

Paweł Suliga,DVM, PhD

Researcher

Paweł Suliga is a researcher at Topigs Norsvin specializing in meat quality and veterinary diagnostics. With a background in veterinary medicine and a PhD in meat science, his work bridges veterinary diagnostics and meat science. Within the HAM project, he develops methods to better detect and characterize meat-quality abnormalities and investigates how animal health and changes in skeletal muscle tissue may influence the meat we produce.

View scientific publications on

ResearchGate

We Breed Sustainable Pork 

 

In times of climate change, where reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a top priority, the pig plays a key role in the sustainable provision of premium proteins to a growing world population. Topigs Norsvin takes responsibility for breeding pigs that thrive in future production environments — stronger, healthier, and more efficient. 

Meat Quality and Sustainability

Following evolving consumer demands, sustainability concepts have found their way into food quality management systems and food quality assurance (Manikas et al., 2015). Due to its multifactorial complexity, meat quality issues are often reflective of production and processing system challenges (Bezerra & Ribeiro, 2026). Moreover, poor meat quality can lead to sustainability losses: resources have been used to produce the animal and the product, but if the meat is downgraded or unusable, those resources are ultimately wasted. Furthermore, ensuring high meat quality ensures that the most nutritious product is available for humans. 

By gaining a better understanding of the production and processing environments, we select better for meat quality parameters. 

With the HAM project, linking skeletal muscle health and meat quality allows us to support in terms of genetic improvements. This helps to support the avoidance of waste and promote the right conditions for pigs in the pork production chain.