Investigation of the efficacy of immunocastration aimed at the prevention of sex odour in boar meat

Autor: Aleksić Jelena, Dokmanović Marija, Aleksić Z., Teodorović V., Stojić V., Trbović Dejana, Baltić M.Ž.
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: Acta Veterinaria, Vol 62, Iss 5-6, Pp 653-663 (2012)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0567-8315
1820-7448
DOI: 10.2298/AVB1206653A
Popis: Disadvantage of meat known as boar taint is caused by steroids, androstenone being of particular importance, as well as indole and its derivatives, among which the best known is skatole. The common practice in Europe, in order to control these changes in meat, is castration without anesthesia. This intervention causes pain and stress to animals, thus undermining animal welfare. Many countries considering animal welfare try to find the alternative solutions in order to avoid castration. The alternative to surgical castration and possible solution to the problem of sex odour in the meat, as well as androstenone and skatole contents decrease in the boar's fat is immunological castration of boars (immunocastration). Average skatole content in fat tissue of boars was significantly higher (0.21±0.03 μg/g) compared to skatole content in fat tissue of the castrates, or immunocastrates (0.12±0.02 μg/g). In adipose tissue of the castrates and immunocastrates there was no significant difference in the average content of skatole. The content of androstenone in the adipose tissue of immunocastrates was below detection limits, and the average androstenone level in adipose tissue of boars was 0.66±0.13 μg/g. The obtained results show that immunocastration is justified in consideration of the meat quality and can completely replace castration in male animals, which is in compliance with the preservation of animal welfare in rearing fattening young boars.
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