The boar taint elimination in fattening pigs

Boar taint is one of the actual problems in fattening pigs. It is caused by two main compounds - androstenone and skatole. Androstenone is a steroid feromone, which is synthesised and metabolised in liver and testes. Skatole is produced by intestinal bacteria by the metabolisation of trypthophan. Both these substances are metabolised by CYP450 and the unmetabolised residues accumulate in adipose tissue. This thesis describes the possible nutritional effects on boar taint reduction. Skatole is the main component, which could be reduced by nutrition in entire male pigs. We can reduce its presence in adipose tissue by reducing apoptosis of intestinal cells by raw potato starch. Another method is to influence the microbial population in the gastrointestinal tract by organic acids or fructooligosaccharides. Recently, attention has been directed towards the enzymatic system in the liver. There are a few possibilities of reducing skatole as well as androstenone, by influencing the liver enzymatic system. Substances, which may affect it in particular, are secondary plant metabolites and flavonoids. However, more research is required in this area to clarify physiological regularities and all the relationships in the metabolism detoxification from xenobiotic and endobiotic substances