Joint project
Einsatz von polyphenolhaltigen Pflanzenextrakten und Präbiotika im Futter von Jungebern
Funder: Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Period: 2012-2014
Detailed description:
In Germany male piglets are castrated, as boar meat frequently does not meet the demand posed by the customer for a meat free of boar taint. Boar taint is caused by the accumulation of the strong smelling compounds androstenone and skatole in the fatty tissue of many boars. Fattening of entire males, opposed to castration, is seen as desirable over fattening of castrated males from an animal welfare point of view. However this requires new methods to fatten boar without the development of boar taint. This application aims to reduce boar taint by the way of feeding, using polyphenolic plant extract and prebiotics as feed ingredients. Polyphenols stimulate hepatic xenobiotic metabolism and thus in turn should enhance the degradation of androstenone and skatole in the liver and diminish the accumulation of those compounds in adipose tissue. Prebiotica enhance microbial fermentation in the hindgut and thus inhibit the formation of skatole. Three experiments with boars will be performed in order to elucidate the optimum combination of polyphenols and prebiotica in the diet which allows a significant reduction of androstenone and skatole concentrations in boar meat and thus prevent the occurrence of boar taint.
In Germany male piglets are castrated, as boar meat frequently does not meet the demand posed by the customer for a meat free of boar taint. Boar taint is caused by the accumulation of the strong smelling compounds androstenone and skatole in the fatty tissue of many boars. Fattening of entire males, opposed to castration, is seen as desirable over fattening of castrated males from an animal welfare point of view. However this requires new methods to fatten boar without the development of boar taint. This application aims to reduce boar taint by the way of feeding, using polyphenolic plant extract and prebiotics as feed ingredients. Polyphenols stimulate hepatic xenobiotic metabolism and thus in turn should enhance the degradation of androstenone and skatole in the liver and diminish the accumulation of those compounds in adipose tissue. Prebiotica enhance microbial fermentation in the hindgut and thus inhibit the formation of skatole. Three experiments with boars will be performed in order to elucidate the optimum combination of polyphenols and prebiotica in the diet which allows a significant reduction of androstenone and skatole concentrations in boar meat and thus prevent the occurrence of boar taint.
Cooperation partners with funding
- Dr. Eckel Animal Nutriton GmbH & Co. KG
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
- University of Giessen
- University of Hohenheim
