Eight semi-trained panellists, staff of Istanbul University, Food Hygiene and Technology Department, who had previously participated in training sessions to become familiar with the sensory characteristics of meat were requested to score the red colour, off-odour and general appearance acceptability on the basis of nine point hedonic rating scales. The scales included 1 = extremely unacceptable, 2 = very much unacceptable, 3 = moderately unacceptable, 4 = slightly unacceptable, 5 = between acceptable and unacceptable, 6 = slightly acceptable, 7 = moderately acceptable, 8 = very much acceptable and 9 = extremely acceptable (Ranganna, 1994). The panellists were trained in three separate sessions approximately 2 h long for each evaluation of the selected attributes. Training sessions were conducted to acquaint panellists with the products and attributes to be evaluated, and were followed by an open-discussion session to familiarise panellists with the attributes and the scale to be used.
The panel members were seated in individual booths in a temperature and light-controlled room (fluorescent lighting of 2000 lx; Philips 40 W Cool White), receiving a set of ten samples in a completely randomised order. Each sample was labelled, at random, with a two-digit code number. Unsalted crackers and water were served to panellists to freshen their mouth between each sub-samples assessment (ISO, 1988). Sensory analysis was performed in triplicate in two sessions.