Effect of ageing time on consumer preference and sensory description of foal meat

A consumer test (n = 120) was performed in Vitoria-Gasteiz (northern Spain) in order to study the effect of ageing time (0, 7, 14 and 21 days) on the sensory quality of Hispano-Breton foal meat. Steaks (Longissimus thoracis et lumborum) were wet aged and evaluated in-mouth and visually. In both cases, acceptability was scored using a hedonic scale, and sensory drivers related to ageing were characterised by applying check-all-that-apply method in meat. For both, in-mouth and visual acceptability, meat aged for 7 days obtained higher scores than non-aged meat, whereas longer ageing periods did not improve consumer acceptability. Check-all-that-apply method showed to be able to discriminate among samples, both in-mouth and visually. Results revealed that texture related attributes were the most discriminant ones in the in-mouth evaluation, being non-aged meat related to 'dry', 'high residue', 'tough' and 'chewy' terms, whereas aged meat was associated to 'juicy', 'tender' and 'easily dissolving' terms. Visually, consumers perceived that, after 14 days of ageing, meat colour changed to 'brownish'. Under present study conditions, the establishment of a period of 7 days of ageing would be recommended.