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

Marinade injection of pork as a possible technological strategy to reduce boar taint: Response and attitude of the consumer

Sensory evaluation by consumers allows validation of a solution for the food industry to overcome boar taint and market entire male pork with high levels of boar taint considered "unfit for human consumption". One possible technological strategy for improvement is the injection marination of entire male pork to help minimise the impact of boar taint and improve its marketability. The responses of 120 regular pork consumers, to entire males with high levels of boar taint and castrated pork, both injection-marinated, were evaluated. The results showed a similar response between entire and castrated male pork regardless of sex, and the detection of unpleasant odours and flavours (as farm/animal), thus offering a new alternative to the pork sector to mask the boar taint and revalue this pork. However, it was observed that consumer information on castration and animal welfare of entire male pork is scarce, and it is important to increase their knowledge so that they can place a value on this technological strategy with entire male pork and thus increase their purchase intention.

Effect of Marinating in Dairy-Fermented Products and Sous-Vide Cooking on the Protein Profile and Sensory Quality of Pork Longissimus Muscle

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of marinating (3 or 6 days) in kefir (KE), yogurt (YO) and buttermilk (BM) and sous-vide cooking (SV) at 60 or 80 °C on changes in the protein profile of pork in relation to its sensory quality. In the marinated raw meat, an increased share of some fractions of myofibrillar and cytoskeletal proteins and calpains were found. The greatest degradation of proteins, regardless of time, was caused by marinating in YO and KE and cooking SV at 80 °C. The lowest processing losses were in samples marinated in KE and YO and cooked SV at 60 °C, with marinating time having no significant effect. The odor, flavor, tenderness and juiciness of meat marinated in BM was better than in KE and YO. Meat marinated and cooked SV at 60 °C was rated better by the panelists. Changes in proteins significantly affect the formation of meat texture, tenderness and juiciness, which confirms the correlations. This is also reflected in the sensory evaluation. During the process of marinating and cooking meat, protein degradation should be taken into account, which can be a good tool for shaping the sensory quality of cooked pork.

Sous-Vide as an Alternative Method of Cooking to Improve the Quality of Meat: A Review

Sous-vide (SV) is a method of cooking previously vacuum-packed raw materials under strictly controlled conditions of time and temperature. Over the past few years, scientific articles have explored the physical, biochemical, and microbiological properties of SV cooking. In this review, we provide a critical appraisal of SV as an alternative method of meat cooking, including the types of methods, types of SV meat products, and effects of SV parameters on the meat quality and the mechanisms of transformation taking place in meat during SV cooking. Based on the available data, it can be concluded that most research on the SV method refers to poultry. The yield of the process depends on the meat type and characteristics, and decreases with increasing temperature, while time duration does not have an impact. Appropriate temperatures in this method make it possible to control the changes in products and affect their sensory quality. Vacuum conditions are given a minor role, but they are important during storage. The limited number of studies on the approximate composition of SV meat products makes it challenging to draw summarizing conclusions on this subject. The SV method allows for a higher microbiological quality of stored meat than conventional methods. The literature suggests that the SV method of preparing beef, pork, and poultry has many advantages.

Consumer perception of entire male pork coated with spiced edible films as a new product to mask boar taint

Pork production has undergone a shift towards the rearing of entire male pigs, however, its meat might carry with the presence of boar taint and it would be considered "unfit for human consumption". To offer a new alternative to the pork sector tailored to the needs of consumers, a viable option would be the use of edible spiced gelatin films to help minimize boar taint and improve its marketability. The responses of 120 regular meat consumers to entire pork with high levels of boar taint and castrated pork free of boar taint, both coated with spiced gelatin films were evaluated. They showed a similar response between entire and castrated male pork coated with spiced films, regardless of whether consumers usually detected unpleasant odours (as farm/animal) when consuming pork or not. Therefore, the new spiced films offer a new range of products to consumers as they contribute to the improvement of the sensory quality of entire male pork, especially among consumers who tend to buy new products.

Effect of Dry-Aging on Quality and Palatability Attributes and Flavor-Related Metabolites of Pork Loins

This study evaluated the effect of dry-aging on quality, palatability, and flavor-related compounds of pork loins. Ten pork loins were obtained at 7 days postmortem, divided into three equal portions, randomly assigned into three different aging methods (wet-aging (W), conventional dry-aging (DA), and UV-light dry-aging (UDA)), and aged for 21 days at 2 °C, 70% RH, and 0.8 m/s airflow. The results showed similar instrumental tenderness values across all treatments (p > 0.05), while DA and UDA had a greater water-holding capacity than WA (p < 0.05). Both DA and UDA were observed to have comparable color stability to WA up to 5 days of retail display (p > 0.05). Greater lipid oxidation was measured in both DA and UDA at the end of display compared to WA (p < 0.05). The UV light minimized microorganisms concentration on both surface and lean portions of UDA compared to other treatments (p < 0.05). The consumer panel was not able to differentiate any sensory traits and overall likeness between the treatments (p > 0.05). Metabolomics analysis, however, identified more flavor-related compounds in dry-aged meat. These findings suggested that dry-aging can be used for pork loins for value-seeking consumers, as it has a potential to generate unique dry-aged flavor in meat with no adverse impacts on meat quality and microbiological attributes.

The Use of Pork from Entire Male and Immunocastrated Pigs for Meat Products-An Overview with Recommendations

Due to the strong public initiative in Europe and increased regulator focus to mitigate pain, surgical castration of pigs is being gradually abandoned, while the importance of other sex categories like entire males (EM) and immunocastrates (IC) increases. Although beneficial for animal welfare and economics, their use also brings forward several quality problems. Besides the occurrence of boar taint in EM, these include excessive carcass leanness, softer fat, meat color and pH deviations, inferior water holding capacity and increased meat toughness. In this paper, the raw material differences between the male sex categories and their influence on product quality are reviewed, and possible solutions are presented. Using EM for dried or thermally processed products may result in lower processing yields and inferior sensory quality, which may partially be prevented by applying specific processing adaptations. Immunocastration is a viable solution, especially when prolonging the vaccination to slaughter interval. Low to medium levels of boar taint can be effectively managed in most of the meat products, applying procedures like cooking, microbial inoculation or masking (by spices and especially smoking), while highly tainted material can be valorized only by combining various methods and/or with dilution of the tainted meat.

Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by Immunocastration

Simple Summary

Public awareness of farm animal welfare has gradually increased. It is well-known that some routine procedures in pig farming are detrimental to animal welfare, including surgical castration, especially without anaesthesia and/or analgesia. Some alternative techniques that offer welfare advantages over surgical castration can be implemented—immunocastration is among them. However, producers fear that consumers may be frightened by this technique and therefore they delay changes in the production system. This work aimed to understand whether Italian consumers perceive a health risk from the immunocastration technique and whether this perception is connected with their willingness to consume and to pay for products derived from immunocastrated animals. The results show that, within the Italian population, there are different levels of perceived health risk and that, as the perception of risk increases, the willingness to consume products obtained from immunocastrated animals decreases (and vice versa). The health risk perception by consumers also changes the willingness to pay for immunocastrated products. Particular attention must be paid to the information transmitted to the consumer if this technology will be widely adopted in pig husbandry.

Abstract

Surgical castration without the use of anaesthesia and/or analgesia is considered to be detrimental for the welfare of pigs and for this reason its abandonment is advocated. Immunocastration is a more welfare-friendly alternative method; however, stakeholders in the pork sector fear consumer rejection due to perceived safety issues of immunocastrated meat. This work aimed to analyse whether Italian consumers perceive a health risk arising from the use of this technique and, if so, how the perceived risk may influence the purchase choices and the willingness to pay for products derived from immunocastrated animals. To achieve this objective, a survey was carried out on a representative sample of the Italian population. The results highlight that consumers perceive different levels of risk related to the use of immunocastration and that this influences purchasing behaviour and willingness to pay. Moreover, it should be noted that the willingness to pay is also influenced by certain demographic factors, since this is positively associated with younger respondents with lower incomes and less knowledge of farming systems, who live in rural areas and have a greater sensitivity to animal welfare. Given the concerns expressed by consumers, particular attention must be paid to the information transmitted if this technology will be widely implemented in pig husbandry.

Use of masking strategies to avoid the boar taint perception in chorizo: consumers' acceptability

The production of entire male pigs is an alternative to surgical castration. However, boar taint may be present in the meat of entire male animals. The aim of the present paper was to investigate the acceptability and sensory properties of chorizo, elaborated under three different levels of androstenone [castrated 0-0.3 mg / kg, medium 0.4-0.9 mg / kg and high 1-2.75 mg / kg] and two masking strategies [rosemary, and rosemary plus smoking] using a Check-All-That-Apply questionnaire. The results showed that, of the strategies employed, the rosemary plus smoked chorizo was the most effective masking strategy to reduce the boar taint in chorizos with high androstenone level (3.7% selection rate for animal flavour), while the closest to the ideal product, according to consumers' description, was high androstenone level plus rosemary chorizo.

Drivers of Consumer Liking for Beef, Pork, and Lamb: A Review

Tenderness, juiciness, and flavor have been associated with consumer acceptance of beef, lamb, and pork. Drivers of consumer liking are interrelated across these species, but there are differences in consumer preferences. Animal age, animal diet, and subsequent marbling impact consumer liking across species. For beef, consumer research prior to the 1990s showed that tenderness was the main driver of liking. Consumer tenderness and juiciness liking are highly correlated. More recent research has shown that as overall tenderness improved and tenderness variation decreased, flavor has become a more important driver of beef consumer liking. Flavor is affected by consumer preparation methods, familiarity with different flavor presentations, and animal production systems. Animal diet impacts consumer perception of beef tenderness and flavor, especially when comparing forage-fed versus grain-fed beef. Flavor preferences vary across countries more so than preferences for beef based on consumer tenderness preferences and are most likely influenced by the consumption of locally produced beef and the flavor-derived type of beef traditionally consumed. Drivers of pork consumer liking have been shown to be affected by pH, color, water holding capacity, animal diet, and the presence of boar taint compounds. While tenderness and juiciness continue to be drivers of consumer liking for pork, flavor, as impacted by animal diet and the presence of boar taint compounds, continues to be a driver for consumer liking. For lamb, the flavor, as affected by diet, and animal age continue to be the main drivers of consumer liking. Lamb consumers vary across countries based on the level of consumption and preferences for flavor based on cultural effects and production practices.

Sensory characteristics of meat and meat products from entire male pigs

The surgical castration of male piglets has traditionally been practised to prevent the development of boar taint in pork meat, but European rules aim to end this practice on a voluntary basis. This study represents a sensory characterization of the meat and meat products from entire male pigs. Three levels of androstenone concentration in fat were compared: low, 0-0.3mgkg^-1; medium, 0.4-0.9μgkg^-1 and high, 1-2.75μgkg^-1. The use of meat from entire males in meat products lowered the perception of boar taint compared with fresh meat but was insufficient to totally mask it. Androstenone levels seem to influence the intramuscular fat content and hence, on texture. The perception of boar taint in meat products depends on androstenone concentration as well as on the characteristics of the product. It is necessary to develop additional strategies to totally mask androstenone perception in meat and meat products.