Effect of fibre-rich diets on the backfat skatole content of entire male pigs

The objective was to determine the effect of feeding diets differing in fibre content and source on backfat skatole content and boar taint score of entire male pigs. Sixty entire male pigs (Pietrain×Seghers hybrid cross) were assigned to four dietary treatments and fed ad libitum, in two phases (grower and fattening), one of the following diets: control, one with 15% sugar beet pulp, one with 30% wheat bran and one with 15% soybean hulls. The diets were isocaloric and isonitrogeneous, but differed in crude fibre content and fibre source. Mean crude fibre contents were 5.2, 7.7, 6.2 and 9.9%, respectively. Animal performance, carcass quality, backfat skatole and indole contents and boar taint scores were not influenced by diet. However, the wheat bran diet group gave a numerically (P=0.219) higher backfat skatole content than the sugar beet pulp diet group (126±182 vs 37±54 ng/g fat; mean±S.D.). Under the experimental conditions, there was no higher risk for skatole formation or boar taint occurrence by feeding fibre-rich diets to entire male pigs, compared with a conventional diet.