Monica Borgogno

Inclusion of Hermetia illucens larvae meal on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) feed: effect on sensory profile according to static and dynamic evaluations

BACKGROUND Diet implementation with insect meal has aroused increased attention in aquaculture considering the advantages of this new protein source. The effect of Hermetia illucens meal (HI) inclusion in diets on rainbow trout physical-chemical and sensory properties was evaluated. Three diets were prepared: HI0, HI25, HI50, with 0, 25 and 50% of HI replacing fish meal, respectively. Fillet sensory profiles were described by descriptive analysis and temporal dominance of sensation methods. Cooking loss, Warner-Bratzler shear force, proximate analysis, and fatty acid composition were also determined. RESULTS Diets significantly affected fillets sensory profile. Descriptive analysis indicated significant changes in perceived intensity of aroma, flavour and texture descriptors as a function of diet composition. Temporal dominance of sensation evaluations provided information on dominance and evolution of sensations perceived in fillets from different diets. The first sensations perceived as dominant were related to texture attributes, followed by flavours. Dominance of fibrousnesses decreased with the increase of HI in the diet. Boiled fish, algae flavours and umami taste clearly dominated the HI0 dynamic profile. The onset of metallic flavour dominance characterised HI25 and HI50. No differences in physical parameters were detected. Principal component analysis highlighted the relationship between sensory attributes and physico-chemical parameters. CONCLUSION The sensory description of fillets indicated that HI inclusion induces significant differences in the perceived profile.

Influence of familiarity with goat meat on liking and preference for capretto and chevon

The research aimed at assessing liking and preference for capretto and chevon as a function of consumer familiarity with goat meat. Five meats were produced: traditional milk capretto (MC), heavy summer capretto (HSC), summering (SCh), fall (FCh) and late fall chevon (LFCh). HSC was the most tender meat, having less cooking losses than both MC and redder chevon types. The instrumental profile corresponded with the appearance and texture attributes perceived by panellists. With aging of kids, meat lost its milk aroma (MC) and sweet taste (HSC) and acquired an increasing intensity of goat flavour and livery notes, partially related to feeding regime and fatty acid profile. A niche market preferred chevon over capretto, while the cluster of consumers who were unfamiliar with chevon showed a decrease in pleasantness when tasting chevon, the familiar group reduced their ratings only for meat from the oldest kids.

Eating quality prediction of beef from Italian Simmental cattle based on experts' steak assessment

The experiment aimed at defining a grading scheme for Italian Simmental (IS) beef linked to objective measure of eating quality. Four experts developed a meat quality grid based on the assessment of the steak between the 8th and 9th ribs (reference steak). The grid was tested on the reference steak of 29 IS young-bulls. Rib-eye dimension, meat colour, marbling, meat firmness and fat cover highly contributed to overall quality. Two classes of IS beef quality were identified: standard and high. The results were associated with the sensory profile of Longissimus thoracis muscle from the reference steaks performed by a trained panel. The differences in quality highlighted by experts in raw steak accounted for most of the relevant information regarding the sensory properties of cooked beef. The accuracy of predictive model was 96.6%. The developed scheme is a helpful tool for valuing the eating quality of beef.