Better tasting lamb, hogget and other sheep meat is the aim of a research project which has pin-pointed 14 different areas in the sheep meat supply chain where improvements can be made.

The research for Meat and Livestock Australia identifies 14 “critical control” points which affect eating quality.

NSW DPI Principal Research Scientist and sheep meat researcher, Dr David Hopkins, says a series of studies were undertaken which, for the first time, examined sheep meat eating quality from the perspective of the consumer.

Untrained consumer tasting panels were used to judge cuts of sheep meat - an approach adopted so that everyday consumers could be the judge of quality.

Dr Hopkins said this provided an insight into what cuts were acceptable to consumers, providing certain treatments were applied.

Loin meat from older animals was for instance found to be an acceptable table meat, provided optimal processing was applied to the carcase and meat.

Lamb was identified as having the best sheep meat eating quality, however hogget loin cuts came a close second after being identified by consumer panels as having only slightly lower eating quality than lamb loin cuts.

Dr Hopkins said the research also identified potential for mutton loin to be developed as a high quality grilling cut.

The “critical control” points identified in the sheep meat supply chain include:

• Genetics of the sire
• Genotype of animal
• Sheep age
• Carcass hanging and cooling
• Electrical stimulation of the carcass
• Meat ageing
• Meat storage including display packaging.

Dr Hopkins said choice of sire was important, in that selecting for high muscling can adversely affect eating quality.

“A balance is needed in the selection of sires and those with high growth and muscling should produce lambs which will grow fast, efficiently and produce meat with a good eating quality.

“The challenge is to ensure that high yield traits are not promoted at the expense of eating quality”, he said.

There are also differences in the way different genotypes handle stress.

Merinos seem to be more susceptible, and when stressed can produce a higher pH meat.

This can reduce keeping quality.

However the research did not include recommendations about breeds because there was found to be greater variation within breeds than between breeds, and between cuts within a breed.

Dr Hopkins said it was clear however that Merino lambs require more careful pre-slaughter management, and that good nutrition and stress minimisation are key factors.

One recommendation from the project is that carcases must hit an “ideal pH/temperature window” during chilling. 

This knowledge has coincided with the development of a new generation of electrical stimulation equipment which processors are installing across Australia, giving them the capability to “hit” the window. 

“This represents a revolution in the industry”, Dr Hopkins said.

The sheep meat eating program was initiated by MLA in 2000 after an audit conducted across four Australian capitals found that 20 percent of lamb purchased at the retail counter was not regarded as tender.

Contact: Dr David Hopkins 6349 9722 or david.hopkins@dpi.nsw.gov.au.

This story appears Agriculture Today.