Consumer acceptance of pork patties from entire male pigs in four European countries

This study provides the results of consumer tests performed in four EU countries (Italy, France, Denmark and Poland) evaluating consumer acceptance of boar meat. One hundred and twenty eight female consumers were recruited in each country to evaluate eight different types of boar meat patties with concentrations (analysed in backfat) varying from 0.10 to 0.40 ppm for skatole (SKA), and from 0.47 to 2.00 ppm for androstenone (AND). Boar samples were presented in pair-wise comparison with patties from castrates. Each consumer evaluated 4 paired boar samples following a balanced design of serving order. Meat patties were evaluated based on their general liking score and on their preference compared to the castrate sample for odour and for flavour. Moreover, consumers’ sensitivity towards SKA and AND was tested using the paper strip method. Depending on the country, between 21 and 29% were sensitive to AND, and between 6 and 17% were very sensitive to AND. A higher percentage of the consumers, between 51 and 67%, were sensitive to SKA. Liking scores of the boar meat patties depended on the sensitivity of the consumers to AND and SKA and mainly decreased with increasing SKA level. Similar results were found for consumers’ preference regarding odour and flavour for boar meat patties over castrate meat patties. The results of this study did not allow to identify clear threshold levels for impaired consumer acceptance. However, preference maps (for boar compared to castrate patties) were developed for odour and flavour considering the levels of AND and SKA of the patties and AND sensitivity.