Dr Patrick Morel and a meal of healthy
pork.

Altering the flavour of meat to suit different palates could lead to increased exports, Massey University experts say. Dr Patrick Morel has produced pork with lighter flavours, with a taste of rosemary or garlic, and pork with added nutritional benefits.

The project started with a focus on pork exported to Singapore, Dr Morel says.

“People really didn’t like the flavour; they said it was too milky or too mutton-y. So we managed the diet of the pigs and were able to produce a pork with a flavour similar to that which Singaporeans were used to.”

To alter the flavour, Dr Morel and his team at the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Human Health altered the diet of the pigs. Instead of feeding a diet of animal by-products, a diet of vegetables was used.

“On top of that we thought, well, if we can improve the flavour, we thought we might be able to produce a more healthy pork. So we altered different types of oils in feeding to improve the fatty acid content.”

The team was able to increase the selenium very significantly to about 30 per cent of the recommended daily intake per 100g of pork consumed. Vitamin E content was also increased. Dr Morel says pork is already a healthy meat, with lean pork containing only about one per cent fat.

Follow-up work is underway on flavour.

“We thought instead of trying to get rid of a flavour we might actually be able to produce something that people like. A researcher in Singapore surveyed and found that people liked ginger and garlic, so we were able to reproduce that.”

Dr Morel says that the same effect is likely to be possible in producing chicken, but would be more difficult in sheep or cows because these are ruminant animals.