title: Boar taint compound levels in back fat versus meat products: Do they correlate?
abstract: Surgical castration of male pigs will soon be abandoned, turning a major advantage of this practice, the elimination of boar taint, into the biggest challenge for pig industry when raising intact male pigs becomes common practice. To map the (economical) consequences in relation to boar-taint consumer acceptance, as well as offer a processing strategy for tainted carcasses to stockholders, the current study investigated not only back fat boar taint levels, but additionally generated information on the levels of boar taint compounds recovered after the production of commercially relevant meat products using UHPLC-HRMS laboratory analysis. Our results demonstrate that levels of androstenone, skatole and indole in back fat and meat products tend to correlate strongly, particularly in fatty meat products (generally r>0.80). Concentration values in the edible (lean) meat fraction were significantly lower compared to back fat and fat sampled from fresh or processed meat (p<0.05).
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Jella.Wauters@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Jella
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wauters
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Vicky.Vercruysse@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Vicky
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vercruysse
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Animal Sciences Unit, 9090 Melle, Belgium. Electronic address: Marijke.Aluwe@ilvo.vlaanderen.be.
authors.forename: Marijke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aluwé
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Kaat.Verplanken@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Kaat
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Verplanken
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Lynn.Vanhaecke@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vanhaecke
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000737:chemistry*; D000736:Androstenes / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D005525:Food-Processing Industry / Q000191:economics*; D007211:Indoles / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008461:Meat Products / Q000032:analysis*; D009919:Orchiectomy; D000069466:Red Meat / Q000032:analysis* / Q000191:economics; D012862:Skatole / Q000032:analysis; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D000736:Androstenes; D007211:Indoles; C030374:indole; D012862:Skatole
keywords: Mass spectrometry; Persistence of boar taint; Recovery; Tainted meat products