DIVERSITY OF PERCEPTIONS OF MEAT TENDERNESS AND JUICINESS BY CONSUMERS - A TIME-INTENSITY STUDY

Seven judges, untrained in sensory assessment, were trained in the use of Time Intensity (TI) and asked to monitor the tenderness and juicin ess of a range of cooked beef and pork samples. The subjects were give n no definitions concerning sensory cues to monitor in their assessmen ts, nor did they confer with each other. The shapes of the Tl curves t hey recorded for tenderness and juiciness differed between individuals , although there were similarities in the curve shapes for the 2 attri butes for each individual. Correlations between the intensity paramete rs of the curves (maximum intensity and are under curve) and the chewi ng time were not significant for the subjects as a group for tendernes s, although significantly correlations were found for some of the subj ects when examined individually. The results indicate that subjects di ffer in their concepts of sensory tenderness and juiciness, and that p erceived tenderness does not correlate with chewing time for all subje cts. In more general terms the study supports the use of Tl assessment s for interpreting individual differences in sensory perceptions.