Abstract: The purpose of this study was to estimate the heterosis of reciprocal crosses between Shanxia black pig (SX) and Lulai black pig (LL), and to screen the favorable intercross pattern of them, so as to improve the production efficiency of hogs with high-quality pork and meet the demand of people for high-quality pork. A total of 43 traits belonging to 4 categories were measured, including growth and fattening, body size and appearance(75-110 kg), reproduction, and carcass and meat quality(90-115 kg) in SX(164), LL(69) and the reciprocal crosses between them (6 SX ♂×25 LL♀ and 3 LL♂×35 SX♀), and the differences of these traits among the 4 populations were investigated and the heterosis of F₁ generation of the reciprocal crosses populations was estimated. The results showed that SX had favorable growth, fattening and body size traits, while LL had good reproductive and meat quality traits, and these traits of the reciprocal crosses populations were between them. The reproductive performance of SX×LL was better than that of LL×SX, but the growth and fertility performance was on the contrary. Because the sows of the 4 populations were pure breeds, there was no obvious heterosis in reproductive traits. Except fat thickness, thoracic vertebrae number, pH at 45 min and shearing force having no obvious heterosis and hybrid weakness, most carcass traits together with meat quality traits had obvious hybrid weaknesses. The heterosis of growth and fattening traits were not consistent in the reciprocal populations, the cross population of LL×SX showed significant heterosis, while the cross population of SX×LL had no obvious heterosis. In this study, the heterosis of reciprocal crosses between SX and LL were estimated, and the result would help to select the favorable intercross pattern between SX and LL.

Key words: Shanxia black pig, Lulai black pig, heterosis, high meat-quality pork, production performance