The lipophilic characteristic of androstenone (A), and to a slightly lesser extent, skatole (S) and indole (I) facilitates the analysis of these compounds in adipose tissue, or, in the liquid fat and pure fat melted from it. Indeed, with an IMF ranging from 2 to 10 %, the expected concentrations of A, S and I in meat are well below the detection limits of most common analytical techniques. However, although the determination of boar taint compounds is generally performed in fat, consumers have mostly meat in their dishes. Therefore, it seems legitimate to ask the question of how good is the correlation of boar taint compounds concentration in fat versus in meat.
Although the analysis of boar taint compounds in adipose tissue is more convenient from an analytical point of view, the information thus obtained is probably not complete. These results show the need to directly analyze meat which is the main product actually consumed.