Alentejano and Bísaro pigs: Tradition and innovation – The TREASURE Project

Abstract

The Alentejano pig (AL) and the Bísaro pig (BI) are the two main autochthonous swine breeds of Portugal. Originated from different ancestors they have a similar history across the last century. One hundred years ago AL was the most common swine breed in Portugal, but in the second half of the 20th century both Portuguese breeds undertook a strong population decline that almost led to their extinction. However, since the late 80’s of last century local b reeds were rescued and their populations recovered over the last 30 years. Breeding recovery led to the protection of pork itself and dry products by European protection PDO’s and PGI’s. In the framework of TREASURE project, a study is in progress aiming to investigate the opportunity of a crossbreeding program involving both breeds with the goal of finding new products with potential commercial interest and to improve the knowledge on the pure breeds and to protect them against future threats. This paper includes a revision about AL and BI breeds and presents some preliminary original data from TREASURE project study