This study was designed to evaluate the effects of
breed and slaughter live weight on consumer appraisal
of tenderness, flavour quality and overall acceptability
in three muscles of lamb in terms of different ageing
times. We analysed leg muscles from two different anatomic
regions (Laville et al., 2002), semitendinosus
(ST), semimembranosus (SM) and gluteo biceps (GB).
Leg chops were not used because, as cited by Thompson
(2002) for beef, variations in palatability among muscles
could be 60 times greater than between animals for the
same muscle. Thus, although individual muscles from
lambs leg are not usually consumed, when we want to
consider other effects (breed, slaughter live weight and
ageing), comparing the same muscle each time will help
to eliminate other sources of bias.