FATTY ACIDS AND STEROIDS AFFECTING FLAVOR AND AROMA OF MEAT FROM RAM, CRYPTORCHID, AND WETHER LAMBS
Organoleptic tests of meat and fat samples from 33 ram, 37 cryptorchid, and 31 wether lambs showed no significant differences in flavor or aroma among the three sex types. There was, however, a small variation in flavor and aroma among the animals. Analyses of variance of flavor and aroma scores revealed that there was a larger Variation within animals (between judges) than that between animals and the repeatability estimates for the two traits were 0.10 and 0.03. However, a significant (P < 0.01) multiple regression of flavor on 15 independent variables (six fatty acids and nine steroids) was determined and its multiple correlation coefficient was 0.56. The reduction in residual variance due to stearic acid was significant (P < 0.05) and linoleic acid was the best predictor of flavor as a single independent variable (P < 0.10). Simple correlation coefficient between flavor and aroma was estimated to be negative and nonsignificant, −0.12.