Técnicas culinarias y estrategias de enmascaramiento para reducir el olor sexual en carne procedente de cerdos machos enteros

Abstract

The present doctoral thesis is framed within the context of the European Declaration on alternatives to the surgical castration of pigs in 2010, in view of the concern for animal welfare and the possibility of abandoning the surgical castration of pigs. As alternatives to this possibility, it is necessary to highlight the production of entire males which presents as advantages: lower production cost, decrease of environmental pollution, higher conversion rate, lean percentage and animal welfare. However, the production of entire pigs increases the incidence of DFD meats (dark, firm, dry) and the presence of boar taint of meat (Fredriksen et al., 2011). The boar taint is an unpleasant odour ("animal", "urine", "faecal" or "sweat") which becomes especially intense when the meat of some entire male pigs is heated, causing rejection by consumers. The main substances responsible for boar taint are skatole (SKA), which is a volatile compound produced by microbial degradation perceived by the majority of consumers, and androstenone (AND), which is a testicular steroid detectable by 40-50 % of consumers, especially women. Skatole can be reduced by diet, while androstenone can be removed by castration (Whittington et al., 2011). In recent years the production of entire male pigs has increased (Backus et al., 2014), which implies that consumers may be more likely to find meat with the presence of boar taint (Borrisser-Pairó et al., 2016). In this sense, the search for alternatives to reduce its perception could be of interest to the meat industry. Therefore, the objective was to study the effect of different culinary techniques and masking strategies on the sensory perception of boar taint in fresh meat and meat products from entire male pigs. In order to achieve this objective, three trials were proposed. In the first trial, the effect of four cooking methods (vacuum, grill, oven and frying) and two treatment times (72 ºC, 72 ºC + 1 min) on the sensory quality of whole male pig loins was evaluated. In the second trial, two strategies of masking the boar taint (fennel and herbal mixture) were tested on whole male pig loins and their effect on the sensory quality of the meat was studied. In both trials the evaluations were made by sensory analysis with a trained panel. In the third trial, the sensitivity and acceptability of consumers to androstenone were evaluated, as well as the differences perceived between sausages with different levels of androstenone (castrated, entire pigs with medium and high androstenone level) and the effect of two strategies to mask the boar taint (rosemary and rosemary + smoked) on the sensory quality of entire male pig sausages by a consumer panel. According to the results, it was observed that the treatment time affected the perception of odour and flavour to androstenone in the entire male pig loins in both the vacuum and frying methods when they were cooked for 1 more min. Regarding the culinary techniques evaluated, frying was the most effective technique to reduce the perception to androstenone. In addition, the strategies developed (fennel and herbal mixture) reduced the perception of odour and flavour to androstenone, not appreciating differences in the texture of the meat. In the evaluation of sensitivity and acceptability to androstenone by consumers, it was found that our population under study was mostly anosmic or with low sensitivity, since no differences were found, neither for the level of sensitivity nor for the concentration of androstenone (1 and 5 ppm), among consumers who like and dislike this compound. However, differences were reported between genders. In chorizos with different levels of androstenone, no differences were found between chorizos made from castrated or entire male pigs, since curing, fermentation and the use of spices in this elaboration mask the boar taint. Hence, the meat of entire male pig can be used for the elaboration and marketing of cured meat products. Regarding the strategies of masking (rosemary and rosemary + smoked), both affected the sensory evaluation, the rosemary strategy being the closest to the ideal product.