Consumer acceptability and characterisation of the cooking odour of lardons and pork with different androstenone and skatole contents. Comparison of two cooking procedures

Two cooking procedures, frying pan on a hot plate versus closed container in an oven were used for the assessment of cooking odour of lardons or pork from gilt or boars representing various combinations of androstenone and skatole concentrations. The odour of cooking was characterised by a German and a French trained panel and evaluated for its acceptability by a French consumers panel. The oven procedure was more discriminant for the consumer survey : consumers rejected HS/HA (high skatole / high androstenone) loins and preferred gilt loins and didn't differentiate between bs/HA (low skatole / high androstenone) and bs/ba (low skatole / low androstenone) loins. With the hot-plate procedure, for the loin study and for the lardon study, scores for HS/HA pork were significantly different from those for gilt pork or for the 3 other classes. Sensory characterisation was best or equivalent with the oven procedure and the 4 classes were essentially discriminating with the abnormal attribute.In the conditions of the present study, the contribution of androstenone to boar taint, as perceived by consumers, was not essential. Incidence of boar taint in lardons was likely underestimated due to the use of the hot plate procedure.