Influence of Demographic Factors on Sheepmeat Sensory Scores of American, Australian and Chinese Consumers.

Rachel A O’Reilly,Hailing Luo,Markus F Miller,David W Pethick,Qingxiang Meng,Liselotte Pannier,Graham E Gardner,Andrea J Garmyn

doi:10.3390/foods9040529

Rachel A O’Reilly, Hailing Luo + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9040529

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Abstract

Along with animal production factors, it is important to understand whether demographic factors influence untrained consumer perceptions of eating quality. This study examined the impact of demographic factors and sheepmeat consumption preferences on eating quality scores of American, Australian and Chinese untrained consumers. M. longissimus lumborum (LL) and m. semimembranosus (SM) were grilled according to sheep Meat Standards Australia protocols and evaluated by 2160 consumers for tenderness, juiciness, flavour and overall liking. Linear mixed effects models were used to analyse the impact of demographic factors and sheepmeat consumption habits on eating quality scores. Consumer age, gender, number of adults in a household and income had the strongest effect on sensory scores (P ≤ 0.05), although, the impact was often different across countries. Frequency of lamb consumption had an impact on sensory scores of American, Australian and Chinese consumers but larger sample sizes in some underrepresented subclasses for Australian and Chinese consumers are needed. Results suggest it is important to balance sensory panels for demographic factors of age, gender, number of adults and income to ensure sensory preferences are accurately represented for these particular populations.

Highlights

As in beef, the development of a sheep Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading system is underpinned by sensory evaluations of vast numbers of untrained consumers [1,2,3]
Confirming our hypothesis, demographic factors had a variable impact on eating quality scores of Australian, Chinese and American consumers testing Australian lamb and yearling samples grilled according to MSA protocols
Demographic attributes of consumer age, gender and number of adults in a household, and income bracket had a significant but different effect within the three countries, occasionally varying by muscle and sensory trait

Summary

Introduction

The development of a sheep Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading system is underpinned by sensory evaluations of vast numbers of untrained consumers [1,2,3]. The MSA prediction model forecasts consumer eating quality of a final cooked product, and is based on consumer scoring of a variety of muscles using descriptors of tenderness, juiciness, liking of flavour and overall liking [1,4]. This prediction model is successfully implemented for beef and is being developed for sheep [3]. Chinese consumers would largely be unaccustomed to Western style grilled lamb with the top three sheepmeat cooking styles in China being stewing, roasting or hotpot [7,8]

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