Handbook of Meat Processing

Sensory Evaluation of Meat Products 461

Further analysis of this data set using

canonical correlation analysis was an attempt

to gain further insights into the relationship

between the manufacturing data of traditional

dry - cured sausages and sensory attributes.

This analysis showed that the relationship

between the fi rst two axes of the sensory data

and the manufacturing data was highly cor-

related. Discriminant analysis showed that

the traditional dry sausages were correctly

classifi ed in their manufacturing groups. The

methodology could lead to the production of

quality labels that could correctly refl ect both

production and geographical territory. It was

postulated that a further experiment would be

justifi ed to link consumer choice with both

sensory and manufacturing processes. This

would lead to the underlying dimensions of

consumer choice.

Sausages

UK - Style Sausages

In the UK, expenditure on UK - style sausages

increased by over 8% between 2003 and

2005, with a market value of £ 503.1 million

(MLC 2005 ). However, there has been very

little published work on UK sausages, which

are unique to the UK and differ from

sausages produced in Europe. The sensory

characteristics of UK - style sausages were

described by Jones et al. (1989). A range of

12 different brands of sausages were pur-

chased from retail outlets. Two cooking

procedures were used, oven - baked at 180 ° C

until sausages reached an internal core tem-

perature of 100 ° C, or grilled, turning every 3

minutes, to the same core temperature.

Assessors agreed on a list of 24 descriptors,

which also included fi ve hedonic scales.

There were four groups of descriptors, based

on the appearance of the outside of the

sausage (four descriptors), the inside (six

descriptors), texture (nine descriptors) and

fl avor (six descriptors). Data from nineteen

intensity scales were submitted to PCA and

occurred after about 18 months, and these
were attributed to proteolysis, which agreed
with biochemical maturation indices.
The continuing theme of PG1 status and
quality labeling of traditional products led to
work in France, where Rason et al. (2007)
used a sensory profi ling technique and a
cluster analysis approach to identify groups
of traditional sausages produced in the Massif
Central and establish the underlying dimen-
sions of production and processing. A total
of 108 producers took part in the trial, and
each producer supplied details of their pro-
duction method based on a questionnaire.
The results from the questionnaire were ana-
lyzed using multiple correspondence analysis
combined with a hierarchical cluster analysis
technique. Six groups or clusters were identi-
fi ed, separating the differences in manufac-
turing, which were mainly due to the gender
and slaughter age of the pigs, the amount and
type of fat used in the batter, and the type of
drying.
The sensory panel used 26 attributes that
were subdivided into fi ve categories as
follows: appearance, four descriptors; texture
by fi ngers, three descriptors; texture by
mouth, four descriptors; aroma, nine descrip-
tors; and fl avor, six descriptors. Initial valida-
tion of the data showed that two descriptors
were removed from the analysis: “ hole ” was
removed as it was a quality defect atypical of
the products, and “ the aroma of mushroom, ”
which had a nonsignifi cant F - value for the
product.
The remaining 24 attributes and their
ratings for each product were submitted to
correspondence analysis, which showed that
the fi rst dimension was mainly related to fat
attributes and aroma ratings linked to the raw
material. The second dimension mainly con-
sisted of texture descriptors, contrasting with
aroma and fl avor. The overall conclusion was
that the main effect on the second dimension
was related to texture attributes, which in
turn were linked to the drying time of the
sausages.