Acceptability of Dry-Cured Belly (Pancetta) from Entire Males, Immunocastrates or Surgical Castrates: Study with Slovenian Consumers

• Main Authors: Marjeta Čandek-Potokar, Maja Prevolnik-Povše, Martin Škrlep, Maria Font-i-Furnols, Nina Batorek-Lukač, Kevin Kress, Volker Stefanski
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-04-01
• Series: Foods
• Subjects: consumer; sensory acceptability; dry-cured belly; pancetta; pig; boar taint
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/8/4/122

Abandoning of male piglets castration in the European Union is a challenge for the pork production sector in particular for high-quality dry-cured traditional products. The information on consumer acceptability of dry-cured products from alternatives is limited, so the objective was to test the consumer acceptability of unsmoked traditional dry-cured belly (Kra&#353;ka panceta) processed from three sex categories, i.e., surgical castrates (SC), entire males (EM) and immunocastrates (IC). Consumers (<i>n</i> = 331) were asked to taste dry-cured bellies from EM, IC and SC and to score the taste appreciation on a 9 cm unstructured scale. After tasting the pancetta of three sex categories, the consumers attributed the lowest acceptability scores to SC, whereas IC and EM received similar scores. Only about a quarter of consumers attributed the lowest score to EM, mainly when boar taint compounds were present. The results of this study indicate that a certain share of consumers was sensitive to taste deficiencies and that the leanness of this product is very important for consumers.