Evaluation of the Effect of Surgical and Immunological Castration of Male Pigs on Boar Taint Compounds in Oral Fluid and Fat Tissue by LC-MS/MS Method

INTRODUCTION: An effective way of preventing undesirable boar taint in pork meat caused by the presence of androstenone, skatole and indole is surgical castration of piglets. This, however, arouses growing social opposition. An alternative method of inhibiting the development of unpleasant odour is immune castration. The aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of both methods of castration for the elimination of the compounds responsible and to assess the suitability of oral fluid for pre-slaughter predictive testing for boar taint. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research material was pooled oral fluid and fat samples taken from gilts and surgically and immunologically castrated piglets. The samples were tested with a liquid chromatography– tandem mass spectrometry method developed in this research. RESULTS: The compounds giving rise to boar taint were found only sporadically above the accepted limits; only one sample of oral fluid contained skatole at a concentration above 200 μg L(−1) and one contained indole more concentrated than 100 μg L(−1). Indole above the limit value was also detected in one fat sample. In none of the tested samples was androstenone found. CONCLUSION: The results indicate the similar effectiveness of both methods of piglet castration on the reduction of compounds generating boar taint. The usefulness of testing oral fluid for the ante-mortem prediction of boar taint has not been fully confirmed and further investigation is needed.