Perceptual masking of boar taint in Swedish fermented sausages

Surgical castration of male piglets has traditionally been practiced to avoid development of boar taint in pork meat which can occur if entire male pigs are raised. Boar taint is commonly characterised as exhibiting the odour and flavour of urine and manure. This study involves sensory characterisation of the possibilities to mask boar taint in meat from entire male pigs by fermentation and smoking to maintain high sensory quality in meat products if castration is prohibited. Model and commercial type Swedish fermented sausage products based on low or high levels of boar tainted fat, three different starter cultures and two different levels of smoking were studied. In the model sausages, liquid smoke masked the perception of boar taint. In contrast, the smoking procedure of the commercial sausages was insufficient to totally mask the perception of boar taint. In both the model and commercial sausages, the aroma development from the starter cultures lowered the perception of boar taint but was insufficient for total perceptual masking. Due to the total masking effect of smoking in the model sausages, it was clear that smoke may present a potential solution to remove the perception of boar taint in fermented sausages if the smoking procedure is optimised.