Production Yield and Meat Quality Characteristics of Six Pork Head Cuts from Commercial Crossbred Pigs

Although pork head meat is an edible resource, information on the quality of individual cuts remains limited. In this study, we investigated the effects of slaughter weight on the yields of pork heads and individual pork head cuts, and evaluated the physicochemical properties of individual cuts using 150 commercial crossbred pigs. The quality properties of occipital, cheek, nasal, temporal, jowl, and sublingual meat obtained from pigs in the 110–119 kg slaughter weight group were analyzed. As slaughter weight increased, the absolute yields of pork head and individual head cuts increased, whereas their relative yields did not differ significantly among the slaughter weight groups. Individual pork head cuts also exhibited different quality properties. Nasal and sublingual meats had high pH values, a* values, total myoglobin content, and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) proportions, whereas jowl meat had high fat content, L* values, low total myoglobin content, high monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) proportion, and low PUFA proportion. These results suggest that individual pork head cuts have distinct properties and provide baseline information for quality evaluation and utilization.