Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
5792076 Meat Science 2012 6 Pages PDF
Abstract

The prevention of unpleasant boar taint is the main reason for castration of male piglets. This study aimed to investigate how the malodorous compound skatole is affected by a single nucleotide polymorphism (g.2412 C>T at − 586 ATG) in the porcine cytochrome p450 II E1 (CYP2E1) gene. 119 boars of two commercial Duroc-sired crossbred populations raised at different farms were investigated. Skatole and androstenone in backfat averaged 114 ± 125 ng/g and 1206 ± 895 ng/g melted fat, respectively. The frequency of the genotypes CC, CT, and TT was 25, 52, and 23%, respectively. CC boars had the highest average skatole levels (175 ng/g) compared to CT (92 ng/g) and TT (93 ng/g). Applying suggested sensory threshold levels for skatole (> 150 ng/g) and androstenone (> 2000 ng/g), 30% of the carcasses may be unacceptably tainted while the proportion of tainted carcasses is significantly higher within genotype CC (56.7%) compared to genotypes CT (24.3%) and TT (14.8%). Effective reduction of tainted carcasses appears feasible applying marker assisted selection.

► SNP g.2412 C > T (at -586 ATG) in CYP2E1 was investigated. ► It segregates in two commercial Duroc-sired crossbred populations. ► It accounts for up to 10% of the phenotypic variation of major boar taint compounds. ► Skatole is significantly higher in unfavourable CC genotypes. ► The SNP does not affect carcass traits.

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Life Sciences Agricultural and Biological Sciences Food Science
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