Descriptive sensory profiling and physical/chemical analyses of warmed-over flavour in pork patties from carriers and non-carriers of the RN− allele

Descriptive sensory profiling was carried out to evaluate warmed-over flavour (WOF) development in cooked, chill-stored and reheated pork patties derived from the meat (Musculus longissimus dorsi) of carriers (RN−/rn+) and non-carriers (rn+/rn+) of the RN− gene. Patties were oven-cooked at 150 and 170 °C and chill-stored for up to 5 days to facilitate warmed-over flavour (WOF) development. In addition, thawing losses, cooking losses, pH and TBARS were measured in the cooked pork patties. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate changes in the physical/chemical measurements due to the experimental design variables (storage days, cooking temperature and genotype) and multivariate ANOVA-partial least squares regression (APLSR) was used to determine relationships between the design variables and the sensory and physical/chemical data. WOF was found to involve the development of lipid oxidation derived nuance off-flavour and odour notes, e.g. rancid-like flavour and linseed oil-like odour, in association with a concurrent decrease in ‘meatiness’ as described by, e.g. cooked pork meat-like flavour. Cooking temperature was described by roasted-like and caramel-like odours and samples from carriers of the RN− gene were described as more ‘sour’ and ‘metallic’. Thawing and cooking losses were found to be significantly (P <0.05) higher in meat from carriers of the RN− gene versus non-carriers. pH was negatively related to samples from carriers of the RN− gene. However, the measured pH in RN− carriers could not be significantly ascribed as lower in non-carriers in the freshly cooked meat samples. TBARS were found to be significant (P <0.05) predictors of the sensory terms related to the lipid oxidation aspect of WOF. Moreover, TBARS were significantly (P <0.05) higher in meat from RN− gene carriers but, significantly (P <0.05) lower in meat cooked at high oven temperatures (170 °C). The former effect was postulated as related to pH and the latter as related to the antioxidant effects of Maillard reaction products developed at higher cooking temperatures. Overall, WOF, cooking temperature and genotype were differentiated as individual dimensions through sensory profiling of the meat samples and each source of variation was characterised by specific groups of sensory descriptors. Moreover, the predictive nature of thawing losses, cooking losses and TBARS was established for the effects of RN− gene, cooking temperature and WOF, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]