Boar taint describes an undesirable odor or taste present in pork from some entire male pigs (boars). To prevent it, male pigs are typically castrated, which is a painful and stressful procedure. We recently demonstrated that dietary supplementation with biochar (BC), a charcoal-based binding agent, successfully prevented boar taint in up to 89% of affected animals. While this suggests that dietary BC treatment could be a promising alternative to castration, its effectiveness relies on identifying animals that respond positively. To evaluate the broader applicability of BC as a dietary treatment for boar taint, boars from two different genetic lines were fed a BC-supplemented diet for 4 wk. Additionally, boars were classified as having either high or low capacities for steroid production to investigate whether this trait could influence treatment response. Dietary BC effectively controlled boar taint in a subset of affected boars from both genetic lines and steroid production groups, including 100% of those with low steroid production capacity. These findings may help identify boars most likely to benefit from BC treatment, so that it can be provided in a targeted manner to effectively control boar taint.

Read the full article in the Journal of Animal Science.