Lipid oxidation in mutton: Species-related and warmed-over flavors

Effects of lipid oxidation in cooked mutton on species-related flavor and warmed-over flavor (WOF) intensities were studied using various additive treatments and post-cooking storage (versus no additive/no storage) as means to produce samples of varied lipid oxidation. Ground mutton was treated with 200 ppm sodium nitrite, 0.5% sodium tripolyphosphate, 0.05% sodium ascorbate, 3% sodium lactate, 0. 002% propyl gallate, or water only (control), cooked to 74C, and aerobically stored at 4C for 0, 2, or 4 days. Nitrite-treated samples showed the least lipid oxidation as determined by the 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TEARS) and had more intense species-related (muttony) flavor than all other treated samples. Some samples exhibited high TEARS after 4 days but were still rated "slight" for WOF intensity, probably due to the strong species-related flavor that could have made WOF less perceivable. Accordingly, correlations, although statistically significant, were low between TEARS and WOF intensity or between species flavor intensity and WOF intensity.