Nero Siciliano Pig

Origins of Nero Siciliano pig date to Carthaginian domination and its rearing, after a setback during the Arab period, was rather diffused throughout Sicily. Breed rearing is nowadays limited from the farmed area to the wooded hills of north-eastern Sicily. The latest available status (2015) reported 87 registered farms with about 1100 breeding sows and 124 boars enrolled in the herdbook started in 2001, as well as the conservation programme. Coat colour is mainly black but white face and wattles are accepted. Nero Siciliano pigs have on average 7.6 piglets of 1.4 kg live body weight and the average daily gain during fattening period was on average 346 g/day for the overall fattening stage. Slaughter age of Nero Siciliano breed was on average 390 days, at an average live weight of 95 kg. Average intramuscular fat content was 4.6% and as regards fatty acid composition, average values obtained for SFA, MUFA and PUFA were 37.5, 54.2 and 8.3% in longissimus muscle and 39.0, 49.4 and 11.7% in back fat tissue, respectively. This review gives an exhaustive review of the information available for this local Italian breed.