Development and characterisation of high-quality meat sauces made from wild boar meat

The damage to agricultural crops by wild animals such as wild boars and deer is becoming a serious problem in Japan. The consumption of wild boar meat is limited owing to its gamy tastes and toughness. Therefore, the present work aimed to develop a processing technique for meat utilisation. In the present work, meat sauces from underutilised wild boar meat were prepared using rice koji and food enzymes. The salt contents of meat sauces were remarkably lower than those of meat sauces from other animals and commercially available soy sauces. Next, the functional properties of meat sauces were investigated for future applications. Meat sauces exhibited powerful antioxidative, radical scavenging, and hyaluronidase inhibitory activities. In addition, ACE activities were completely inhibited by these sauces. Among the tested sauces, the meat sauce prepared with 30% (w/w) rice koji and 0.5% (w/w) Alcalase 2.4 L FG to the boiled ground meats had good taste strength and balance, as well as strong sweetness and umami, and weak bitterness and saltiness. In addition, the meat sauce had high nutritional value owing to its rich total and essential amino acids. High-quality meat sauce, which has positive effects on human health, will fulfil the demands of modern consumers and soy sauce-related industries as an upcycling meat sauce owing to its eating quality and health benefits.