Diverse lamb genotypes. 3. Eating quality and the relationship between its objective measurement and sensory assessment

The effect of genotype on eating quality was evaluated on m. Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscle of 60 lambs. The lambs were sired by a selection of Texel (T), Poll Dorset (PD), Border Leicester (BL) and Merino (M) rams, crossed with Border Leicester x Merino (BLM) and Merino (M) ewes giving six genotypes (TxBLM, PDxBLM, TxM, PDxM, BLxM and MxM). The relationships between sensory panel assessment of eating quality attributes and pH, cooking loss and shear force were also investigated. No significant differences were observed between genotypes for panel assessment of tenderness, juiciness, aroma liking, aroma strength, flavour liking, overall acceptability and rating. MxM lambs had a significantly (P<0.05) higher flavour strength than BLxM lambs. pH was a poor indicator of any eating quality attributes, except aroma strength (r=0.3, P<0.05). Warner Bratzler shear force value (WB) and tenderness showed a significant (P<0.001) negative correlation (−0.7). Tenderness, flavour and juiciness were the most important sensory attributes, explaining 86.5% of the total variation in overall acceptability.