Influence of volatile compounds on the development of off-flavours in pig back fat samples classified with boar taint by a test panel

• Published in: Meat science Vol. 71; no. 4; pp. 595 - 602
• Main Authors: Rius, M. Angels, Hortós, M., García-Regueiro, Jose Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2005; Elsevier
• Subjects: Androstenone; androsterone; Animal productions; backfat; Biological and medical sciences; Boar taint; flavor compounds; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Head space; headspace analysis; Meat and meat product industries; off flavors; Pig back fat; pork; sensory evaluation; Skatole; Terrestrial animal productions; Vertebrates; Volatile compounds; volatile organic compounds; Head space; Volatile compounds; Skatole; Pig back fat; Androstenone; Boar taint; Volatile compound; Volatile compounds: Head space; Farming animal; Meat product; Flavor; Pig; Vertebrata; Meat animals; Mammalia; Development; Fat; Artiodactyla; Ungulata
• ISSN: 0309-1740; 1873-4138
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2005.03.014

Dynamic Head Space methodology was applied to evaluate the possible contribution of some volatile compounds to the development of boar taint in pig backfat samples with low concentrations of skatole and androstenone, but which had previously been classified as tainted by a trained test panel. Volatile compounds were collected in a trap of graphited charcoal and analysed by GC–MS in Scan mode. Aldehydes and short chain fatty acids, compounds that play a significant role in the development of undesirable aromas in food products, were the main classes of compounds identified in this study, although the possible contribution of other compounds that were detected in a minor proportion – such as alcohols and ketones – was evaluated. Styrene and 1,4-dichlorobenzene, compounds that may have come from an external contamination, showed a high concentration in the samples classified with boar taint, so these compounds could have been responsible for the development of some off-flavours in the fat samples studied in this work. In the same study, skatole and androstenone were also determined by normal phase HPLC and GCMS, respectively.