Efecto del nivel de androstenona en chorizos elaborados a partir de cerdos enteros

As a consequence of European changes in animal welfare regulations, in the near future the pork industry may face a ban on castration of male piglets which could lead to a medium and high risk of boar taint. On the other hand, physical castration affects animal fat depot and fatty acid composition of lean and fat tissues. Therefore, the use of entire male pigs in meat industry could affect the processing and quality of meat products. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of androstenone (AND) level on the characteristics of dry cured sausage (chorizo). For this purpose, chemical composition, fatty acid (FA) profile and sensory characteristic of dry fermented sausages from castrated pigs and from entire male pigs with two levels of AND (Medium: 0.5-0.8 µg/g fat, High: 1.1-2.9 µg/g fat) were analyzed. Medium and high AND sausages had the highest protein and the lowest fat content (Pu003c0.05). Sausages from castrated pigs had the highest saturated FA and monounsaturated FA contents (Pu003c0.05). An increase of polyunsaturated FA content was observed when AND level increased (Pu003c0.05). In spite of these differences, the scores given by a trained sensory panel for texture parameters were similar for all sausages. For androstenone perception (odour and flavour), high AND sausages presented the highest scores, however no differences were found between medium AND sausages and those from castrated pigs. These results suggest that meat from entire pigs with medium level of androstenone could be used like the meat from castrated pigs for chorizo elaboration.