American lambs are often over-finished and lack consistent quality. It has been suggested that the use of intact ram lambs can decrease USDA YG and improve growth efficiency. However, ram lamb carcasses are underutilized because of potential issues, the most crucial being off-flavor development. Our hypothesis for this study is that U.S. producers can take advantage of intact ram lamb growth and performance with no detriment to product quality, as long as lambs are slaughtered before the attainment of puberty. Three breeds (Hampshire, Dorset, and Columbia), three slaughter weights (light, medium, and heavy) and two sexes (rams and wethers) were evaluated. Results indicate that ram lambs can provide a satisfactory eating experience, however, in one of our studies compounding of maturity and slaughtering intact rams increased incidence of off-flavors. It remains undetermined whether the small differences in sensory characteristics would be detectable by everyday consumers.

No description available.

However, interferences by inhaled volatile compounds are not the aim of the present study. The objective of this report is to determine if common food stuffs would cause an interference with the CMI Intoxilyzer. It has been theorized that if one has been eating while drinking alcoholic beverages, the food might cause an elevated breath-alcohol test result. Odorous foods were chosen on the theory that if it could be smelled on one's breath, it would perhaps elicit a reading on the instrument. The list of foods was further narrowed to those commonly found in eating and drinking establishments (i.e. pizza shops) or those foods taken in an attempt to conceal the presence of ethanol in the breath (i.e. mints and candies).

The taste of a preferred food, pizza, was adulterated with quinine sulfate and the effects of taste experience on subsequent measures of palatability were measured. The measures of palatability were salivary responses to the thought and presentation of pizza. Additional measures were latency to start eating, amount eaten, meal duration, rate of eating and preference ratings of the pizza's taste, aroma and appearance. Thirty-six subjects received access to regular and/or adulterated pizza over two experimental sessions. The resulting groups of nine subjects each received either adulterated and adulterated, adulterated and regular, regular and regular, or regular and adulterated pizza over the two sessions. In a third session all subjects received regular pizza. In session two, groups which had received regular pizza in session one showed a reliably greater salivary response on the presentation trial than on the thought trial. Groups which had received adulterated pizza showed minimal differences in salivation between these trials. In session three, groups which had received regular pizza in session one yielded reliably greater salivation on the presentation trial than did groups which had received adulterated pizza in session one. Furthermore, nonshift groups, which had received the same pizza condition over sessions one and two, showed a greater difference between thought and presentation trial responses than did shift groups, which had received different pizza conditions over sessions one and two. An approach-avoidance conflict model of behavior was applied to the salivation data. Preference ratings of the pizza's taste, the amount eaten and the rate of eating data yielded reliably greater responses for groups which received regular pizza than for groups which received adulterated pizza in sessions one and two. Positive and negative contrast effects were also evidenced by these data. The meal duration and latency to start eating data yielded highly similar responses among groups over days. / M.S.

Recently, there has been an increased interest in manufacturing high fiber Foods. Beef patties containing 1% Lupran (sweet lupin bran flour), 2% barley and 3% of both fibers (1% Lu + 2% Ba) and a control all-beef pattie were manufactured and comparatively evaluated by visual and sensory panels. Hypocholesterolemic effects were tested by in vivo studies. Rats were fed diets containing meat or meat-blends as the sole source of protein, fat, fiber and cholesterol. All the diets were isocaloric. At the point of purchase, the meat blends were different (P < 0.05) from the in their apparent amount exudate, fat to lean ratio and integrity. Less significant was the difference in color, both visual and objective, with the beef-barley blend tending to be darker and the beef-lupran product tending to be brighter within 14 days oF storage. The sensory panel scored meat-blends as significantly less beefy, more beany and grainy (P> 0.05). The grainy flavor of barley was especially detectable. Mouthfeel was not significantly altered (P> 0.05) but there was a tendency for the panel to score the barley blend as dryer and tougher than the control. However, these results were not confirmed by objective measurements. Cooking losses and quantity of measured exudate For meat blends were similar to the control. Neither lupran nor barley had a significant antioxidative effect. The meat blend with 3% fiber lowered the LDL fraction in rats relative to that of rats on control diets. However, the amount of added fiber was too low to significantly affect serum or liver cholesterol. / Master of Science

Utilization of a fat substitute (100% replacement) with and without added fungal protease, fungal amylase, and bacterial amylase in a muffin was compared to a full fat counterpart. The enzymes were evaluated independently and in combination with each other. Physical and sensory data were reported with a p<0.05 significance level. The physical tests indicated that there were no significant differences (p>0.05) among any of the variations in volume, water activity (freshly baked, and after 24 and 48 hours storage), crumb L values and crust Land b values. The full fat muffin (control) was significantly (p<0.05) more tender than all formulations. In addition, the control had a significantly (p<0.05) lower moisture content and a significantly (p<0.05) more yellow crumb color than all the other variations. The 100% fat substituted muffins with enzymes, generally, had lower moisture contents, lower volumes, decreased staling rates, and an increased crumb tenderness when compared to the 100% fat substituted muffin without any enzymes. The 100% fat substituted muffins containing bacterial amylase or fungal protease alone had a significantly (p<0.05) lower staling rate than a 100% fat substituted muffin with a combination of bacterial amylase and fungal protease. / Master of Science

BACKGROUND: Turmeric is a root with curcumin and non-curcumin derivatives that serve as antioxidants, which reduce the risk of oxidative stress-induced chronic disease. The provision of health information has shown to increase the acceptability of functional foods that impart unfamiliar flavors. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acceptability and sensory qualities of a functional beverage with fresh turmeric, and the impact of information related to the beverage's health benefits on acceptability. This study also investigated personal and psychological factors associated with food acceptance. METHODS: Antioxidant capacity (ferrous equivalents) and polyphenolic content were evaluated in a fruit-based beverage containing 0g, 7g, 14g, and 22g of fresh turmeric. Sixty-one individuals were recruited to participate in a sensory evaluation of two fruit-based beverages with and without fresh turmeric. Thirty-one participants were given health information related to the beverage and 30 participants received no health information. The degree of liking was measured on a hedonic scale and sensory attributes were measured using a Just About Right (JAR) scale. Food choice motives and demographic characteristics were measured using a Food Choice Questionnaire and demographics questionnaire. RESULTS: The development of a functional beverage with 14 grams of turmeric was considered significantly more acceptable with the provision of health information and resulted in a significant increase in antioxidant capacity and polyphenolic content. There was a significant difference in acceptability scores of the functional beverage across antioxidant interest groups and health motivation groups. / Master of Science

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of type of milk (whole; nonfat; nonfat, 70% lactose-reduced) and type of egg (fresh, whole egg; egg substitute) on the quality of baked custards. The egg substitute was a combination of dried egg whit e solids, dried low-fat, low-cholesterol egg yolk solids, and xanthan gum. Custard formulations served as prototypes for use in studies conducted in the Department of Food Science and Technology, Virginia Tech. In those studies, the effects of processing parameters on the quality of the custards were examined. The goal of all the studies was to develop shelf-stable lactose-reduced custard mixes that have potential for use in the foodservice industry. In Experiment I, chemical, physical, and sensory characteristics of a dessert type baked custard, made with sucrose, were examined. In Experiment II, the same characteristics were examined for a cheese flavored, entree type custard made without sucrose. Results indicate that use of nonfat and nonfat, 70% lactose-reduced milk in place of whole milk decreased significantly total fat and cholesterol concentrations in both types of custard mixes. Lactose-reduced milk also decreased lactose and increased galactose concentrations. The egg substitute decreased total fat and cholesterol concentrations and increased protein concentration. In general, lactose reduction had little effect on the physical and sensory characteristics of both types of custards, but the egg substitute affected these characteristics. Custards made with the egg substitute had less intense yellow color and greater gel strength than those made with fresh, whole egg. These custards also were less bright and more uneven in color and had weaker egg flavor and aftertaste. Based on results of this study, development of a lactose-reduced custard is feasible. However, additional studies are needed to examine potential for use of the formulations in the foodservice industry. Because the mixes could be used as bases for other types of products, such as custard pies, filled pastries, and quiches, studies that focus on development of those products could help define the niche for the mixes in the foodservice industry. Because of the trend in today1s market for reduced-fat, reduced-cholesterol foods, additional studies could be done to examine the effects of various types of egg substitutes on the quality of the custards. / Master of Science

Both the theory of sequential analysis developed by Wald and that developed by Rao may be applied to binomial distributions and may be used to select judges for taste testing experiments. The duo-trio or triangle test may both be used as the fundamental test in either sequential process. Wald has applied his sequential analysis to binomial distributions and it was only necessary to associate duo trio and triangle trials with his examples on industrial sampling inspection. This was done by associating incorrect tasting decisions with defectives in industrial sampling. It has been noted Ghat choice of α and β, the risks of type I and type II errors, may depend on the availability of potential judges and on the time and material available to the experimenter. / Master of Science

Olfactory transduction mechanisms are best studied when specific blocking agents are available with which to modify cellular responses to odorant stimulation. This study is an electrophysiological investigation of functional group-specific olfactory acceptor mechanisms using ethylbromo acetate (EtBrAc), a World War I war gas which inhibits olfactory responses to odorant stimulation. The major findings of this investigation show that (1) vaporous EtBrAc is found to be a quick and effective inhibitor of electroolfactogram (EOG) responses to odorant stimulation, (2) isoamyl acetate is shown to protect EOG responses to a wide variety of odorants, inclusive of itself, from the inhibition effect of EtBrAc treatment, and (3) amine acceptor sites exist which are resistant to the inhibitory effects fo EtBrAc treatment.