Department of Food Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7051, Uppsala 750 07, Sweden.
Meat Sci. 2004 Jun;67(2):351-8. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2003.11.008.
High skatole and to a lesser degree indole levels in some entire male pigs result in occurrence of off-flavor in meat, called boar taint. In this study, plasma samples from 117 Yorkshire, 134 Landrace, 184 Hampshire and 75 Duroc entire male pigs collected at different ages were analyzed for skatole and slightly fewer samples for indole concentrations. For each breed, a distinct age-related distribution of plasma skatole levels was observed. Skatole levels were increased at approximately 180-200 days of age, reaching very high levels is some individuals. Afterwards, the levels decreased; in Yorkshire and Landrace at approximately 240-260 and in Hampshire and Duroc at 310-360 days of age. The decrease of skatole levels was also observed in samples collected from 15 Landrace boars at two different ages: 16.8 μg/L (SD=17.36) vs. 5.9 μg/L (SD=3.48, p=0.016) in samples taken at the mean age of 210 and 314 days, respectively. Indole levels showed similar age- and breed-related variations to skatole. At the time of increased skatole concentrations (age from 180 to 360 days, depending on breed) 25.5% of Yorkshire, 31.6% of Landrace, 20.3% of Hampshire and 61.1% of Duroc entire male pigs had skatole levels above 12.6 μg/L of plasma, which corresponds to the threshold level of 0.20 μg/g of fat that is used for selecting tainted carcasses. The results indicate that increased levels of skatole in entire male pigs are related to puberty and taking skatole measurements at that age could be advantageous when considering genetic selection to reduce boar taint level in entire male pigs. Breed differences should be also taken into account.
在一些纯种公猪中，高水平的粪臭素和在一定程度上吲哚会导致肉质产生异味，这种异味通常被称为公猪异味。在这项研究中，分析了来自 117 头约克夏、134 头长白、184 头汉普夏和 75 头杜洛克纯种公猪在不同年龄的血浆样本中的粪臭素和稍少量的吲哚浓度。对于每个品种，都观察到血浆粪臭素水平与年龄相关的明显分布。粪臭素水平在大约 180-200 天龄时增加，在一些个体中达到非常高的水平。之后，水平下降；在约克夏和长白猪中，大约在 240-260 天龄时下降，而在汉普夏和杜洛克猪中，在 310-360 天龄时下降。在分别于 210 天龄和 314 天龄采集的 15 头长白猪的两个不同年龄的样本中也观察到粪臭素水平的下降：16.8 μg/L（SD=17.36）vs. 5.9 μg/L（SD=3.48，p=0.016）。吲哚水平也表现出与粪臭素相似的年龄和品种相关的变化。在粪臭素浓度增加的时期（180-360 天龄，取决于品种），25.5%的约克夏猪、31.6%的长白猪、20.3%的汉普夏猪和 61.1%的杜洛克猪的血浆中粪臭素水平超过 12.6μg/L，这相当于用于选择有异味胴体的 0.20μg/g 脂肪的阈值水平。结果表明，纯种公猪中粪臭素水平的增加与青春期有关，在该年龄段进行粪臭素测量，在考虑遗传选择以降低纯种公猪中的公猪异味水平时可能是有利的。还应考虑品种差异。
