Occurrence of giant fibers in muscles from wild pigs native to the United States

• Published in: Meat science Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 75 - 81
• Main Authors: Solomon, Morse B., Eastridge, Janet S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 1987
• Subjects: muscle fibers; size; swine; wild animals; United States
• ISSN: 0309-1740; 1873-4138
• DOI: 10.1016/0309-1740(87)90052-0

The semimembranosus (SM) and triceps brachii (TB) muscles from wild pigs native to Florida. USA, were evaluated for histological characteristics. All three fiber types were present in both muscles in varying proportions, reflecting differences between tonic and phasic functioning muscles. Typical fiber arrangements were observed with red fibers grouped in clumps and surrounded by white fibers. The triceps brachii muscle contained a greater percentage of βR and αR fibers and possessed more giant fibers than the SM muscle which contained more αW fibers. The giant fibers observed resembled βR or αR fibers. The presence of hypertrophied fibers in the muscles from these wild pigs suggests that the ‘giant fiber syndrome’ is an intrinsic susceptibility for muscle fiber enlargement in these animals and not necessarily associated with breeding for muscularity since the carcasses from these pigs contained very small muscles and very little fat.