Do all the consumers accept marbling in the same way? The relationship between eating and visual acceptability of pork with different intramuscular fat content

Several reports show that intramuscular fat (IMF) and/or marbling affect the sensory acceptability of meat. The aim of the present work was to (1) investigate using Spanish consumers the eating and visual acceptability of pork with different levels of IMF, (2) understand more about this acceptability by studying segments of consumers and (3) determine which fresh pork characteristics are important at the point of purchase. Loin section (n=40) were sorted into four IMF groups: 0.96±0.30% (G1), 2.11±0.07% (G2), 3.72±0.26% (G3), and 5.78±0.19% (G4). Consumers (n=200) evaluated the acceptability, tenderness and juiciness of cooked loin chops from each IMF group and then ranked raw chops according to visual preference. Two groups of consumers — ‘lean loin lovers’ (55.5%) and ‘marbled loin lovers’ (44.5%) — were identified based on their visual preferences; however, according to their eating acceptability scores, all the consumers preferred loins with higher IMF levels. Accordingly, the minimum IMF content recommended to ensure a good taste is between 2.2% and 3.4%. ► Intramuscular fat affects pork overall acceptability, tenderness and juiciness. ► Higher intramuscular fat pork has higher consumer's sensory acceptability scores. ► Marbling of pork loin affects the consumers' visual acceptability. ► Consumers can be classified into ‘lean loin lovers’ and ‘marbled loin lovers’.