There is no relationship between lamb particle size and consumer scores for tenderness, flavour, juiciness, overall liking or quality rank

Abstract

With the aim to define an objective threshold for consumer satisfaction, this study investigated the relationship between lamb particle size data and consumer scores for tenderness, juiciness, flavour and overall liking (sensorial properties). Data were sourced from the longissimus lumborum muscles of 273 Australian Merino lambs, these being aged for 5-d and then analysed for particle size and sensorial properties - the latter using untrained consumer sensory panels. Pearson's correlation and principal component analyses identified no significant relationship between particle size and consumer sensory scores. Linear regression models found the sensorial properties of lamb could not be predicted using particle size, indicating no univariate relationship. Further, a backwards stepwise regression analysis found there to be no multivariate or univariate relationship between the sensorial properties of lamb and its particle size. These findings demonstrate that there is little value in defining a particle size threshold for consumer satisfaction based on the sensorial properties of lamb.

Keywords: Lamb; Myofibrillar fragmentation; Particle size analysis; Sensory quality; Untrained consumer panel.