Researchers looking for what makes meat tasty
Students and community members participated in taste tests to help USU researchers figure out whether what cows eat affects the quality of meat last month.
Jan. 30 was the last day of the experiment where participants were given samples of meat to smell, taste and evaluate. According to Silvano Martini, an associate professor in the nutrition, dietetics and food sciences department, participants were given six meat samples and were asked to rate how much they like each meat sample in all of five categories: smell, flavor, taste, juiciness and overall.
“The upper level of the scale says, ‘I like it extremely,’ and the lower level says ‘I don’t like it at all,'” Martini said.
“We wanted to see if the different quality and flavor were affected by the different diet,” she said.
The experiment is a collaboration between three professors: Jerrad Legako, also in the NDFS department, Jennifer MacAdams of the plants, soils and climate department, and Martini.
Participation was not limited to students at USU. This study was open to the public, and all participants were given coupons for free ice cream from Aggie Ice Cream, according to Martini.
The testing room was dimly lit by a red-colored light. According to Martini, this was so the participants would not judge how much they liked the samples by the color or appearance. This was strictly a taste and flavor test.
The main reason for conducting this experiment is to see if the taste of meat affects peoples’ choices in purchase and consumption, according to Martini.
“There is a lot of research behind the sensory panels,” Martini said. “Trying to improve the quality of life, the quality of society, trying to get better foods that are healthier and also trying to promote sustainability.”
Martin Carrillo, a junior in the civil engineering program who participated in the experiment, said he believes taste does affect how consumers buy meat. He said tests like this will affect our community in the future.
“It kind of drives the market to look at these studies and find out what people like,” he said. “You find a meat that you like, you go with it. If you don’t, you don’t.”
“I thought it interesting because it asked questions that I didn’t really consider much, like at the end when it asked ‘Do you prefer grain fed or grass fed?'” said Austin Greer, a junior and civil engineering major.
“I put grass fed because I get all of my meat from my grandpa,” Greer said. “All of his cows are grass fed, so that’s what I eat. I’ve never actually paid attention to that. Now I’m really curious to see the difference, to see if I was really liking the grass fed diet.”
Martini said the experiment is being analyzed from many different angles.
“Twenty years ago, everybody would do work in their lab and do their rad experiments and would not interact with anybody else,” she said. “These days, we need to make sure that we all work together towards the achievement of a single goal, which is improve the quality of the food, so that we can get a healthier society.”
Jon Solorio, a senior and food sciences major, was standing at the door to facilitate the experiment and to help the participants if they had any questions. Solorio is in Martini’s sensory science class this semester.
“I know that a lot of the research that goes on in the NDFS department can be applied to the agriculture in the Utah and Idaho area,” he said. “Any results that they find here, if it’s helpful, can go straight to Utah and Idaho beef farmers and can help them to know how to run their operations better. It’s a direct impact.”
Solario said the NDFS department appreciates the continued help.
“This is a good way to get involved and help our department’s research. It really does help out a lot of the research projects that happen, and this does happen a lot more than people think,” Solario said. “There’s a lot of cheese and milk and all sorts of things that get taste tested. Just a little bit of their time and they can get some free ice cream, but also help us out a lot.”
Future taste testing events will be posted in the NDFS building, as well as the USU advertising boards. There is a signup sheet near the west door of the NDFS building where people can add themselves to the list to receive emails about upcoming taste testing events.
twitter: @skylermarka