Regional, socioeconomic and behavioural- impacts on consumer acceptability of beef in Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.

This study was commissioned to assess if there are regional differences in the acceptability of beef between consumers from Northern Ireland (NI), Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Great Britain (GB). Palatability traits were affected by socioeconomic and behavioural factors such as preferred cooking endpoint, animal welfare, value, health aspects of beef product, ease of preparation as well as consumption frequency for specific cuts. "Willingness to pay" (WTP) was influenced by income, preferred cooking endpoint, value of beef product, ease of preparation and consumption frequency for frying steak. Results showed that GB consumers scored higher for the same striploin steak compared to NI and ROI consumers. This may be due to differences in the motivation for beef choice and/or consumption habits. GB consumers were less concerned about the healthiness of beef product and beef origin. In addition, a higher consumption frequency for rump was reported in GB, which may explain the higher sensory scores observed among GB consumers for striploins.

Identification of sensory attributes, instrumental and chemical measurements important for consumer acceptability of grilled lamb Longissimus lumborum.

In this study, important eating quality attributes that influence consumer liking for grilled lamb loin have been identified using preference mapping techniques. The eating quality attributes identified as driving the consumer liking of lamb loin steaks were "tenderness", "sweet flavour", "meaty aftertaste", "roast lamb flavour" and "roast lamb aftertaste". In contrast, the texture attribute "rubbery" and the flavour attributes "bitter flavour" and "bitter aftertaste" had a negative influence on consumer perceptions. Associations were observed between eating quality and a number of instrumental and chemical measurements. Warner Bratzler Shear Force showed an association with "rubbery" texture and a negative association with "tenderness" and consumer liking scores. The compounds, glucose, glucose-6-phosphate, inosine, inosine monophosphate and adenosine monophosphate were associated with the attributes, "sweet flavour","meaty aftertaste", "roast lamb flavour", "roast lamb aftertaste" and with consumer scores for liking of lamb which is probably caused by the role some of these compounds play as precursors of flavour and as taste compounds.