Consumers' sensitivity to androstenone and the evaluation of different cooking methods to mask boar taint.

Boar taint is an unpleasant odour and flavour present in some entire male pigs that is due to the presence of androstenone and skatole. The aim of the study was to assess the sensitivity of 150 consumers to androstenone and to compare the acceptability and liking of meat from castrated and entire pigs, cooked with different cooking methods. Meat samples consisted of loins from castrated (CM) and entire male pigs (EM) with high levels of androstenone cooked by two cooking methods: sous-vide and fried/breaded with garlic and parsley. Consumers evaluated smell and flavour acceptability, and overall liking of CM and EM for each cooking method. The results of the study showed that dislike of androstenone odour increased significantly with sensitivity. The results of acceptability and overall liking were similar in CM and EM for both cooking methods. Therefore, the two cooking methods used in the study may be useful to mask boar taint.

Russian and Chinese consumers' acceptability of boar meat patties depending on their sensitivity to androstenone and skatole.

The aim of this work was to study the sensitivity of Chinese and Russian female consumers to androstenone and skatole and to identify their preference for pork patties from entire male pigs compared with those from castrated pigs. One-hundred-twenty women in each country were enrolled. The sensitivity of the consumers to both compounds was tested using smell strips and triangular tests. Pairwise tests were performed comparing patties from castrated male pigs with patties from boars with different levels of androstenone and skatole. Approximately 70% of the Russian and 60% of the Chinese consumers were sensitive to skatole and 37% and 32% were sensitive to androstenone, respectively. Nevertheless, a higher percentage of sensitive Russian consumers compared to Chinese consumers disliked the smell of both compounds. In Russia, the consumers' preferences were higher for patties with low levels of both compounds, while no differences were found in China. In both countries, consumers who were sensitive to skatole also preferred patties with low levels of both compounds. Thus, the levels of androstenone and skatole affect boar patty preferences.

Evaluation of different strategies to mask boar taint in cooked sausage.

The use of smoking and/or spices was evaluated for their ability to mask boar taint in frankfurters manufactured from entire pigs with high levels of androstenone. Five frankfurter types were considered: control, smoked, flavouring+smoked, spicy and spicy+smoked. A trained panel in androstenone perception carried out a sensory profile on the different sausages. The highest scores for androstenone perception (odour, flavour and aftertaste) were found in frankfurters that included no masking strategy which indicated the effectiveness of the evaluated strategies. Regarding masking strategies, the contribution of spices and smoking to sensory perception of frankfurters was detected by the panellists. Smoking was the best strategy to mask androstenone odour, while the use of spices masked androstenone odour to a greater extent than androstenone flavour. Only the combined use of spices and smoking was able to eliminate the perception of androstenone. The application of this strategy in frankfurters could be an alternative in the commercialization of entire pigs.

Consumers' segmentation based on the acceptability of meat from entire male pigs with different boar taint levels in four European countries: France, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom.

Two consumer studies were conducted to know the acceptability of pork with different boar taint levels: test 1 performed in Spain (n=126) and United Kingdom (n=146), and test 2 performed in France (n=139) and Italy (n=140). Each test had 3 types of pork: 'Female meat', 'Low boar tainted meat', and a third type was 'Medium boar tainted meat' or 'High boar tainted meat'. Three main clusters were identified on the basis of 'How delicious do you find this meat?': 1-Pork lovers, 2-Boar meat lovers, 3-Reject boar tainted meat. Additionally, in test 2, a fourth cluster was identified: 'Reject low tainted meat'. A group of 16.2-38.2% of consumers rejected meat from boars, and another group of 12.4-21.7% rated the meat with medium or high levels of boar taint better than the meat from females, identifying a niche for meat from medium and high levels of boar taint, and suggesting the need to select carcasses on the basis of boar taint.

Prevalence of boar taint in commercial pigs from Spanish farms.

The presence of boar taint can affect the sensory quality of pork because the "off" odours and flavours can be detected by consumers. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of boar taint in pig carcasses from 30 Spanish farms located in different regions of the country. Hot carcass weight and subcutaneous fat thickness means were 79.4±8.19 kg and 18.4±5.09 mm, respectively. Subcutaneous fat samples were classified into different levels according to androstenone and skatole concentrations in adipose tissue measured using GC-MS and HPLC. Androstenone results were: 87.4% of the carcasses below 0.50 µg/g, 7.1% from 0.50 to 1.00 µg/g (medium level), and 5.5% ≥1.00 µg/g (high level). Skatole results were: 88.9% of the carcasses below 0.10 µg/g, 4.5% from 0.10 to 0.20 µg/g (medium level), and 6.6% ≥0.20 µg/g (high level). Given these results, a future online method to classify carcasses according to boar taint is strongly recommended.

Impact of consumer's sensitivity to androstenone on acceptability of meat from entire male pigs in three European countries: France, Spain and United Kingdom.

The aim of this work was to study consumers' acceptance of pork with different levels of boar taint according to their androstenone (AND) sensitivity in France (FR, N=144), Spain (ES, N=101) and United Kingdom (UK, N=147). Samples were classified as 'females', 'detection minus' males (low levels of AND and skatole - SKA) and 'detection plus' males (high levels of AND and SKA). Globally, 22.7% of consumers were high sensitive, 28.3% middle and 49.0% low sensitive or insensitive to AND. Sixty-five percent dislike AND odour. AND disliking was lower in UK than ES and FR. The percentage of consumers that may reject tainted meat was 14.3-41.0%; the risk was lower in UK than ES and FR. The description of AND odour varied according to the degree of sensitivity of the consumers. High AND levels reduced the acceptability of boar meat; medium AND levels could even improve its acceptability compared with low levels, resulting in meat which is as positive as that from females.