Effect of organic and conventional rearing system on the mineral content of pork

Dietary composition and rearing regime largely determine the trace elemental composition of pigs, and consequently their concentration in animal products. The present study evaluates thirteen macro- and trace element concentrations in pork from organic and conventional farms. Conventional pigs were given a commercial feed with added minerals; organic pigs were given a feed based on organic feedstuffs. The content of macro-elements (Na, K, Mg and Ca) and some trace elements (Ni, Fe, Zn and Sr) in organic and conventional meat samples showed no significant differences (P > 0.05). Several trace element concentrations in organic pork were significantly higher (P < 0.05) compared to conventional pork: Cr (808 and 500 μg/kg in organic and conventional pork, respectively), Mn (695 and 473 μg/kg) and Cu (1.80 and 1.49 mg/kg). The results showed considerable differences in mineral content between samples from pigs reared in organic and conventional systems. Our results also indicate that authentication of organic pork can be realized by applying multivariate chemometric methods such as discriminant analysis to this multi-element data.