Nold, RA; Romans, JR; Costello, WJ; Henson, JA; Libal, GW

Journal of Animal Science [J. Anim. Sci.], vol. 75, no. 10, pp. 2641-2651, Oct 1997

The objective of this study was to determine consumer reaction to boar (BO), barrow (BA), and gilt (G) meat from pigs grown and finished on high- (HI) and low- (LO) protein diets and slaughtered at 100 and 110 kg BW. Within each of two trials, 54 BO, BA, and G were allotted within sexes to HI or LO protein sequences for growing and finishing: 19 and 17% (BOHI), 18 and 16% (BOLO), 17 and 15% (GHI), 16 and 14% (GLO), 15 and 13% (BAHI), and 14 and 12% (BALO). Backfat skatole and salivary gland 16-androstene concentrations were measured from samples taken at slaughter. Longissimus (LM) and semitendinosus (ST) chops from 24 pigs (with equal representation across diet and sex groups) were evaluated by trained panelists for tenderness, juiciness, and off-flavor. Consumer panelists evaluated acceptability of LM chops. In the 100-kg trial, HI diets improved carcass leanness in BO and BA but not in G. In both trials, BO were leaner than G, and both were leaner than BA. Skatole and 16-androstene concentrations were similar among sexes in both trials. In the 100-kg trial, trained panelists found BOLO chops had more off-flavor. In the 110-kg trial, all BO had more off-flavor than BAHI, BALO, and GHI but were similar to GLO. In both trials, BA chops were more tender than G and BO chops and LM chops had less off-flavor than ST chops. In the 110-kg trial, skatole was correlated to off-flavor. A relationship may exist among diet, skatole deposition, and off-flavor. Untrained consumers reported all chops were equally acceptable.