Novel, rapid, low-cost screen-printed (bio)sensors for the direct analysis of boar taint compounds androstenone and skatole in porcine adipose tissue: Comparison with a high-resolution gas chromatographic method

Feasibility of on/at Line Methods to Determine Boar Taint and Boar Taint Compounds: An Overview

“…The performance of a biosensor can be considered as optimal when linearity is observed between the amount of ligand and the obtained signal. Westmacott et al [ 84 ] found this relation for androstenone between 0.3 μg/g–4 μg/g and for skatole between 0.052 μg/g–0.34 μg/g, leading its respective limits of detection in 0.3 μg/g for androstenone and 0.052 μg/g for skatole in pure fat. The correlations (coefficient of determination) observed between the gas chromatographic measurement and biosensors measurement in fat samples resulted in r 2 = 0.93 for androstenone and r 2 = 0.80 for skatole but it should be validated with higher number of samples.…”

“…Biosensors can be applied at a wide spectrum of different fields: for the detection of drug molecules like benzodiazepines [ 80 ], vitamins (e.g., [ 81 ]), environmental pollutants [ 82 ], molecular biology [ 83 ], and even for the boar taint compounds androstenone and skatole [ 84 ].…”

“…Westmacott et al [ 84 ] designed a portable device for the measurement of androstenone and skatole levels at the slaughter line. This is composed by a potentiostat (µAutolab III, Metrohm, Netherlands) connected to a PC for data acquisition, a working electrode for the detection of skatole made of carbon ink (C2030519P4) and a working electrode for the androstenone made of carbon ink modified with Meldola’s blue (BE2031028D1/24) and the enzyme 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3α-HSD).…”

“…Hart et al [ 85 ] reported that there is no need for sample preparation or sample pre-treatment. For the validation of the methodology, Westmacott et al [ 84 ] established that an incision was required in the outer subcutaneous back fat layer in order to insert the sensor for the measurement; in the same study, calibration of the device was made only with the outer fat layer. If the at line scenario is considered, half carcases do not require an incision, but still the operator should perform the measurement in the outer fat layer.…”

“…Measurement time reported in Haugen et al [ 37 ] was 30 s and the total analysis time less than a minute. Westmacott et al [ 84 ] determined a 10 s of deposition time and 2 min of response monitoring for androstenone determination. Since several biosensors can be used simultaneously, the run time is not highly relevant.…”