Levels of androstenone and skatole and the occurrence of boar taint in fat from young boars

Skatole and androstenone were measured in fat from young Noroc boars raised in four herds. The pigs were slaughtered at a mean live weight of 53-62 kg for the four herds. The mean concentration of skatole was 0.14 μg/g fat (median 0.12). In 13.0% of the carcasses the skatole concentration was ≥0.21 μg/g fat. The mean content of androstenone was 0.36 μg/g fat (median 0.19). In fat from 18.9% of the carcasses, the concentration of androstenone was ≥0.50 μg/g fat, while 8.3% of the carcasses had androstenone concentration ≥1.00 μg/g fat. The levels of androstenone and skatole varied between the herds. Taking into consideration both androstenone and skatole levels and using cut off levels for skatole ≥0.21 μg/g fat and androstenone concentration ≥1.00 μg/g fat, from 2.5 to 41.5% of the carcasses would have been sorted out in the different herds. Reducing the cut off level for androstenone to ≥0.50 μg/g fat, from 7.5 to 65.9% of the carcasses would have been sorted out. Cotelette samples with high levels of skatole and androstenone had a significantly higher score (p<0.05) for boar odour and boar flavour than samples with only high levels of skatole or high levels of androstenone. It is concluded that high levels of skatole and androstenone can be found in fat from young boars (age 110 days or live weight at slaughter of 75 kg) causing occurrence of boar odour and boar taint.