Organoleptic Qualities of Ham of Weaner Pigs Fed Graded Levels of Sundried Cassava Peel Meal

A twelve-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of Cassava Peel Meal(CPM) on the organoleptic properties of ham of (24) crossbred weaner pigs allocated to four dietary treatments replicated three times in a Completely Randomised Design(CRD) with each replicates having two pigs. Treatment I had 0% CPM while 2, 3 and 4 had (CPM) of 25%, 50% and 75% respectively. The pigs were allowed free assess to feed and clean drinking water ad-libitum and routine management and medication were administered. The samples of the processed ham was scored on the 9-point Hedonic scale ranging from like, extremely like, dislike to extremely in order to test for the following: Appearance, flavor, juiciness, tenderness, fattiness and overall acceptability of the processed ham. Before the testing exercise, the members of the panel ate a piece of cracker biscuit and then rinsed their mouth with cold water provided in order to minimize flavor carry over after which they commented freely on each of the samples provided using a score form. The result of the organoleptic quality of the processed ham revealed that only fattiness score was significantly (P<0.05) different among the treatment diets with the highest value in treatment 4 and lowest in control. It was concluded therefore that sundried (CPM) can substitute maize in the diet of weaner pigs at 50% level of inclusion for better meat quality.