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  5. melanosis uberis in pork belly

melanosis uberis in pork belly

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Meat Processing
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  • processheadP processhead

    How deep do the patches penetrate into the surrounding normal tissue?

    Ridley AcresR Offline
    Ridley AcresR Offline
    Ridley Acres
    Regular Contributors
    wrote on last edited by
    #6

    processhead I think some patches were about 1.5" deep into the belly.

    This breed is a smaller heritage breed that produces proportionally more lard than std. One of the hogs I was able to trim it out reasonably and have 5lb of belly per side. One side of one hog I did minimal trimming which included the melanosis but yielded 8.5# belly.

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    • Ridley AcresR Ridley Acres

      We are finishing up the processing of our first 2 home slaughtered yearling American Guinea Hogs. We noticed some black spots in and around the mammary glands. (Note these are 1yr gilts and have never farrowed a litter) From what I can find online, this condition appears to be melanosis uberis. A study on Nero Siciliano pigs indicates: Tyrosinase activation could take place in genetically predisposed swine after acorns are eaten, and this event could increase the biosynthesis and the anomalous storage of melanin. My pigs are also black, and were fattened in a wooded area that has a dense population of shagbark hickory and some oak.

      I did not get good pics of mine, but these images are exactly what I have going on.

      0d629739-d643-4109-a826-bb539564b924-image.png

      710d068f-3f6d-4b2d-9581-e30bfa268776-image.png

      We pan fried a few chucks of trim that contained this can confirm taste and texture is what one would expect from a hunk of uncured unsalted pork belly. I fully intend to use the meat as is but has anyone else seen this before?

      DeepwoodsbutcherD Offline
      DeepwoodsbutcherD Offline
      Deepwoodsbutcher
      Power User Veteran Regular Contributors
      wrote on last edited by
      #7

      Ridley Acres Yes! I’ve seen this a lot. Both in commercially raised hogs and off of smaller farms. Your research has yielded the same information as mine. This is just a build up of melanin and is harmless. Commercially, I trimmed this off for appearance reasons. When making bacons for the farmer themselves, I usually left it on.

      Ridley AcresR 1 Reply Last reply
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      • DeepwoodsbutcherD Deepwoodsbutcher

        Ridley Acres Yes! I’ve seen this a lot. Both in commercially raised hogs and off of smaller farms. Your research has yielded the same information as mine. This is just a build up of melanin and is harmless. Commercially, I trimmed this off for appearance reasons. When making bacons for the farmer themselves, I usually left it on.

        Ridley AcresR Offline
        Ridley AcresR Offline
        Ridley Acres
        Regular Contributors
        wrote on last edited by
        #8

        Deepwoodsbutcher said in melanosis uberis in pork belly:

        Commercially, I trimmed this off for appearance reasons. When making bacons for the farmer themselves, I usually left it on.

        Thanks for the info. I left it on for my personal product, but trimmed on sides that may be going to friends/family due to the visual appearance.

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        • samspadeS Offline
          samspadeS Offline
          samspade
          Team Orange Masterbuilt Sous Vide Team Blue Power User
          wrote on last edited by
          #9

          Never heard of that. Great info thank you

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          • Dr_PainD Offline
            Dr_PainD Offline
            Dr_Pain
            Sous Vide Dry Cured Sausage Traeger Team Blue
            wrote on last edited by
            #10

            I did not read all the fine details but my question is why would the melanine be in the fat (dermis layer) rather than the epidermis?

            DeepwoodsbutcherD 1 Reply Last reply
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            • Dr_PainD Dr_Pain

              I did not read all the fine details but my question is why would the melanine be in the fat (dermis layer) rather than the epidermis?

              DeepwoodsbutcherD Offline
              DeepwoodsbutcherD Offline
              Deepwoodsbutcher
              Power User Veteran Regular Contributors
              wrote on last edited by Deepwoodsbutcher
              #11

              Dr_Pain these deposits are seen along the mammary glands. I’ve never seen it anywhere else on the animal. I’m not sure exactly why the melanin shows up there and not other places.

              Dr_PainD 1 Reply Last reply
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              • DeepwoodsbutcherD Deepwoodsbutcher

                Dr_Pain these deposits are seen along the mammary glands. I’ve never seen it anywhere else on the animal. I’m not sure exactly why the melanin shows up there and not other places.

                Dr_PainD Offline
                Dr_PainD Offline
                Dr_Pain
                Sous Vide Dry Cured Sausage Traeger Team Blue
                wrote on last edited by
                #12

                Deepwoodsbutcher Now that makes a LOT more sense. Should have thought about it. Thank you ma’am!

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                • Ridley AcresR Offline
                  Ridley AcresR Offline
                  Ridley Acres
                  Regular Contributors
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #13

                  Deepwoodsbutcher yes since this was in the mammary area I would expect the male I plan to harvest in a few weeks would not have this. Or did you also see this on males? I would also be interested to know if this is found on the lighter colored breeds or if this being a black pigmented breed that is what makes it predisposed.

                  Dr_PainD DeepwoodsbutcherD 2 Replies Last reply
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                  • Ridley AcresR Ridley Acres

                    Deepwoodsbutcher yes since this was in the mammary area I would expect the male I plan to harvest in a few weeks would not have this. Or did you also see this on males? I would also be interested to know if this is found on the lighter colored breeds or if this being a black pigmented breed that is what makes it predisposed.

                    Dr_PainD Offline
                    Dr_PainD Offline
                    Dr_Pain
                    Sous Vide Dry Cured Sausage Traeger Team Blue
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #14

                    Ridley Acres Hey man, just thought about something. If they have dark chocolate melanin around the nipples does that mean that the sow will produce chocolate milk ROFL!!!

                    Ridley AcresR 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • Dr_PainD Dr_Pain

                      Ridley Acres Hey man, just thought about something. If they have dark chocolate melanin around the nipples does that mean that the sow will produce chocolate milk ROFL!!!

                      Ridley AcresR Offline
                      Ridley AcresR Offline
                      Ridley Acres
                      Regular Contributors
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #15

                      Dr_Pain said in melanosis uberis in pork belly:

                      the sow will produce chocolate milk

                      It the whipped cream from when they run low and it starts to sputter?

                      Isn’t it interesting that a brown cow can eat green grass and produce white milk

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                      • Ridley AcresR Ridley Acres

                        Deepwoodsbutcher yes since this was in the mammary area I would expect the male I plan to harvest in a few weeks would not have this. Or did you also see this on males? I would also be interested to know if this is found on the lighter colored breeds or if this being a black pigmented breed that is what makes it predisposed.

                        DeepwoodsbutcherD Offline
                        DeepwoodsbutcherD Offline
                        Deepwoodsbutcher
                        Power User Veteran Regular Contributors
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #16

                        Ridley Acres it also appears in males since they also have mammary glands. I’ve seen it in dark and lighter breeds

                        Ridley AcresR cdavisC 2 Replies Last reply
                        0
                        • DeepwoodsbutcherD Deepwoodsbutcher

                          Ridley Acres it also appears in males since they also have mammary glands. I’ve seen it in dark and lighter breeds

                          Ridley AcresR Offline
                          Ridley AcresR Offline
                          Ridley Acres
                          Regular Contributors
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #17

                          Deepwoodsbutcher said in melanosis uberis in pork belly:

                          it also appears in males since they also have mammary glands

                          Thanks, I wasn’t sure if it was related to milk production or not.

                          Dr_PainD 1 Reply Last reply
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                          • Ridley AcresR Ridley Acres

                            Deepwoodsbutcher said in melanosis uberis in pork belly:

                            it also appears in males since they also have mammary glands

                            Thanks, I wasn’t sure if it was related to milk production or not.

                            Dr_PainD Offline
                            Dr_PainD Offline
                            Dr_Pain
                            Sous Vide Dry Cured Sausage Traeger Team Blue
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #18

                            Ridley Acres

                            abcfbbf5-58e9-4f05-92f6-faaa2e1df3f1-image.png

                            Ridley AcresR 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • Dr_PainD Dr_Pain

                              Ridley Acres

                              abcfbbf5-58e9-4f05-92f6-faaa2e1df3f1-image.png

                              Ridley AcresR Offline
                              Ridley AcresR Offline
                              Ridley Acres
                              Regular Contributors
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #19

                              Dr_Pain so, so wrong

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                              • DeepwoodsbutcherD Deepwoodsbutcher

                                Ridley Acres it also appears in males since they also have mammary glands. I’ve seen it in dark and lighter breeds

                                cdavisC Offline
                                cdavisC Offline
                                cdavis
                                Team Blue Big Green Egg Masterbuilt Canning Kamado Joes Regular Contributors Power User
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #20

                                Deepwoodsbutcher good info. Thanks

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