ABSTRACTAn antemortem tenderization treatment (enzyme injection) was applied to ewes to achieve textural variation in cooked mutton legs. The Instron UTM utilizing a plunger (1.27 cm diam) was applied in the development of an instrumental method which would correlate with sensory tenderness and structural integrity assessments. The mutton legs from ewes with and without enzyme injection tenderization treatment, were roasted to an 82°C internal temperature. The semimembranosus muscle was sectioned into samples and evaluated by trained panelists. The rectus femoris muscle portion of the same roast was sliced parallel to the muscle fibers giving a 2.5–3.8 cm thick sample for mechanical testing. Selected parameters on the penetration force/distance curve included: (1) force measurement at first yield point (breakdown) of muscle fibers; (2) force at the penetration distance (Dp) = 1.27 cm; (3) force at the Dp = 50 of the sample thickness; and (4) maximum force. The regression analysis on the mechanical and sensory texture evaluations of roasts from ewes indicated that force at first yield (Fv) rendered highest correlation with sensory ratings of tenderness and structural integrity for the roasted mutton samples. By using the described penetration test, cooked mutton tenderness (Tn) can be predicted by the equation, Tn= 10.78 – 0.1004 Fy= 0.4703 with a multiple correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.6971: structural integrity (SI) is related to the same force measurement (Fy) by a second order mathematical model, SI = 4.043 + 0.4096 Fy‐ 0.00709 F2y± 0.7156 with an R2=
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