The aim of this study was to evaluate quality and sensory variation in wild boar meat in comparison to pork. Meat quality in wild boar is expected to vary more compared to pork due to different feeding environment, age and gender. In order to be able to promote wild boar meat as a sustainable high-quality product, there is a need to evaluate the variation in meat quality attributes, including technological, compositional and sensory/texture aspects. We evaluated carcass characteristics, pH, colour, lipid profile and sensory aspects of wild boar meat of different age and gender and compared them with pork. Wild boars had lower carcass weight (p = <0.0001) and higher ultimate pH (p = 0.0063) compared to domestic pigs. Intramuscular fat content had a tendency to be higher in wild boar meat (p = 0.1010), as well as the proportion of nutritional valuable n-3 FA (p = 0.0029). The colour of pork was more pink (p = 0.0276) and pale (p = <0.0001) compared to meat from wild boar. Meat from wild boar gilts received the highest sensory scores. Based on these findings, we suggest that meat from younger animals could be sold in different cuts directly while meat from older animals might be more suitable for the production of sausage.
Keywords: carcass weight; colour; lipids; n-3 fatty acids; pH.