Gkarane, VasilikiVasilikiGkaraneBrunton, Nigel P.Nigel P.BruntonHarrison, Sabine M.Sabine M.HarrisonGravador, Rufielyn S.Rufielyn S.GravadorFahey, Alan G.Alan G.FaheyMonahan, Frank J.Frank J.Monahanet al.2019-05-202019-05-202018 Insti2018-09-25Journal of Food Science0022-1147http://hdl.handle.net/10197/10550The aim of this study was to assess the effect of castration and slaughter age on the volatile profile of cooked meat from Scottish Blackface (SB) and Texel × Scottish Blackface (T × SB) lambs. M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum was sampled at slaughter and subjected to volatile analysis by SPME-GC-MS. Rams had higher relative proportions, expressed as relative abundance (RA), in lipid oxidation products while castrates had higher RA in pyrazines and benzenoid compounds. There was no consistent age effect on the RA of volatiles, although rams in November and January had a different volatile profile to castrates. There were higher proportions of free branched-chain fatty acids in muscle from SB compared to T × SB lambs. Overall, the results showed that production factors affected the volatile profile of cooked lamb meat which may explain differences in lamb flavor. Practical Application: Lamb meat has a characteristic flavor which, according to the evidence to date, may be influenced by farm production factors like gender or slaughter age. Our results showed variations in the proportions of some flavor compounds in cooked lamb between rams and castrated lambs while an increase in slaughter age did not have a consistent effect on proportions of compounds.Print-ElectronicenThis is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Gkarane, V. , Brunton, N. P., Harrison, S. M., Gravador, R. S., Allen, P. , Claffey, N. A., Diskin, M. G., Fahey, A. G., Farmer, L. J., Moloney, A. P. and Monahan, F. J. (2018), Volatile Profile of Grilled Lamb as Affected by Castration and Age at Slaughter in Two Breeds. Journal of Food Science, 83: 2466-2477., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.14337. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Aroma volatilesHeadspaceMeatMusclePrincipal component analysis (PCA)Journal Article83102466247710.1111/1750-3841.143372018-10-0511/SF/3102013058https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/