Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T10:05:58.473Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of weaning on carcass quality, fatty acid composition and meat quality in intensive lamb production systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

C. Sañudo ,
I. Sierra ,
J. L. Olleta ,
L. Martin ,
M. M. Campo ,
P. Santolaria ,
J. D. Wood  and
G. R. Nute
C. Sañudo
Affiliation:
Division of Food Animal Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DY Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, 50.013 Zaragoza, Spain
I. Sierra
Affiliation:
Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, 50.013 Zaragoza, Spain
J. L. Olleta
Affiliation:
Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, 50.013 Zaragoza, Spain
L. Martin
Affiliation:
Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, 50.013 Zaragoza, Spain
M. M. Campo
Affiliation:
Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, 50.013 Zaragoza, Spain
P. Santolaria
Affiliation:
Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, 50.013 Zaragoza, Spain
J. D. Wood
Affiliation:
Division of Food Animal Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DY
G. R. Nute
Affiliation:
Division of Food Animal Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DY
Get access

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of weaning and sex on various aspects of production and quality characteristics in 22 male and 18 female lambs of the Rasa Aragonesa local meat breed. Half the lambs were weaned (W) at 38 to 40 days and half were left unwearied (UW). Both groups were given ad libitum concentrates and cereal straw. Average farm weight was 22·1 kg at 78·3 days. Live-weight gain was significantly different between sexes but not between W and UW lambs. Dressing proportion was higher in UW lambs. Significant differences in fatness were found between W and UW lambs and between sex of lambs. Among the meat quality traits, W lambs had redder and UW lambs paler meat judged by colour a* and haem pigment concentration. No statistical differences were found in the other traits except flavour intensity, which was higher in UW (66·8) than in W (63·6) lambs on a 1 to 100 scale. All other eating quality aspects, in grilled m. longissimus lumborum slices, tended to be higher in UW lambs. The fatty acid composition of subcutaneous and intramuscular fat depots differed significantly (intramuscular fat was more unsaturated and polyunsaturated). There were also differences between W and UW lambs in subcutaneous fat (higher unsaturated in W lambs). However in intramuscular fat composition only differences in polyunsaturated fatty acids (higher in UW lambs), but not in total unsaturated or saturated, were observed. Tatty acids of less than C16 chain length were higher, in both fat depots, in UW lambs than in W lambs reflecting greater incorporation of milk fatty acids. Palatability characteristics were not closely associated with fatty acid composition except that flavour intensity was correlated with total saturated fatty acids.

Keywords

carcass qualityfatty acidslambsmeat qualityweaning
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , February 1998 , pp. 175 - 187
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aurousseau, B., Thériez, M. and Daniel, M. 1973. Influence de la nature des matieres grasses incorporees dans l'aliment d'allaitement sur le metabolisme lipidique de l'agneau de boucherie. Annales de Biologie Animal, Biochimie et 13: 93–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banskalieva, V., Shindarska, Z. and Dimov, V. 1989. Fatty acid composition of various depot fats of lambs. Thirty fifth international congress of meat science and technology, vol. III, pp. 1222–1229.Google Scholar
Bligh, E. G. and Dyer, W. J. 1959. A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification Canadian Journal of Biochemistry and Physiology 37: 911–917.Google Scholar
Bozzolo, G., Bouillier-Oudot, M., Boisseson, E. de, Ghassan, M. and Grasset, D. 1990. Influence des performances zootechniques sur les caracteristiques des tissus adipeux d'agneaux de bergerie, sevres precocement et alimentes avec un regime a forte concentration energetique Annales de Zootechnie 39: 77–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busboom, J. R., Miller, G. J., Field, R. A., Crouse, J. D., Riley, M. L., Nelms, G. E. and Ferrell, C. L. 1981. Characteristics of fat from heavy ram and wether lambs. Journal of Animal Science 52: 83–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cameron, N. D. and Enser, M. B. 1991. Fatty acid composition of lipid in longissimus dorsi muscle of Duroc and British Landrace pigs and its relationship with eating quality Meat Science 29: 295–307.Google Scholar
Chestnutt, D. M. B. 1994. Effect of lamb growth rate and growth pattern on carcass fat levels Animal Production 58: 77–85.Google Scholar
Colomer, F., Morand-Fehr, P., Kirton, A. H., Delfa, R. and Sierra, I. 1988. Metodos normalizados para el estudio de las caracteristicas cuantitativas y cualitativas de las canales caprinas y ovinas. Cuadernos del INIA, vol. 17, p. 41.Google Scholar
Cramer, D. A. and Marchello, J. A. 1964. Seasonal and sex patterns in fat composition of growing lambs Journal of Animal Science 23: 1002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crouse, J. D., Busboom, J. R., Field, R. A. and Ferrell, C. L. 1981. The effects of breed, diet, sex, location and slaughter weight on lamb growth, carcass composition and meat flavour Journal ofAnimal Science 53: 376–386.Google Scholar
Crouse, J. D., Field, R. A., Chant, J. L., Ferrell, C. L., Smith, G. M. and Harrison, V. L. 1978. Effect of dietary energy intake on carcass composition and palatability of different weight carcasses from ewe and ram lambs Journal ofAnimal Science 47: 1207–1218.Google Scholar
Crouse, J. D., Kemp, J. D., Fox, J. D., Ely, D. G. and Moody, W. G. 1972. Effect of castration, testosterone and slaughter weight on fatty acid content of ovine adipose tissue Journal ofAnimal Science 34: 384–387.Google ScholarPubMed
Devine, C. E., Graafhuis, A. E., Muir, P. D. and Chrystall, B. B. 1993. The effect of growth rate and ultimate pH on meat quality of lambs Meat Science 35: 63–77.Google Scholar
Doney, J. M., Milne, J. A., Maxwell, T. J., Sibbald, A. M. and Smith, A. D. M. 1988. The effects of live weight at weaning on growth rate and carcass composition at different stages of maturity in Scottish Blackface lambs fed on two different diets Animal Production 47: 401–409.Google Scholar
Doney, J. M., Smith, A. D. M. and Sim, D. A. 1984. Milk and herbage intake of suckled and artificially reared lambs at pasture as influenced by lactation pattern Animal Production 38: 191–199.Google Scholar
Dransfield, E., Nute, G. R., Hogg, B. W. and Walters, B. R. 1990. Carcass and eating quality of ram, castrated ram and ewe lambs Animal Production 50: 291–299.Google Scholar
Field, R. A., Williams, J. C., Ferrell, C. L., Crouse, J. D. and Kunsman, J. E. 1978. Dietary alteration of palatability and fatty acids in meat from light and heavy weight ram lambs. Journal of Animal Science 47: 858–864.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, A. V. and de Boer, H. 1994. The EAAP standard method of sheep carcass assessment. Carcass measurements and dissection procedures. Livestock Production Science 38: 149–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geenty, K. G., Clarke, J. N. and Wright, D. E. 1985. Lactation performance, growth, and carcass composition of sheep. 2. Relationships between ewe milk production, lamb water turnover, and lamb growth in Romney, Dorset, and crossbred sheep. New Zealand Journal ofAgricultural Research 28: 249–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornsey, M. G. 1956. The colour of cooked cured pork: estimation of the nitric oxide haem pigments Journal of the Science ofFood and Agriculture 7: 534–540.Google Scholar
Jagusch, K. T. and Mitchell, R. M. 1971. Utilisation of the metabolisable energy of ewe's milk by the lamb New Zealand Journal ofAgricultural Research 14: 434–441.Google Scholar
Jenkins, T. G. 1986. Postweaning performance and carcass characteristics of crossbred ewe lambs produced in accelerated or annual lambing systems Journal of Animal Science 63: 1063–1071.Google Scholar
Jeremiah, L. E., Smith, G. C. and Carpenter, Z. L. 1972. Ovine yield grades. II. Palatability attributes within various quality grades. Journal ofAnimal Science 34: 196–202.Google Scholar
Kemp, J. D., Johnson, A. E., Stewart, D. F., Ely, D. G. and Fox, J. D. 1976. Effect of dietary protein, slaughter weight and sex on carcass composition, organoleptic properties and cooking losses of lamb. Journal of Animal Science 42: 575–583.Google Scholar
Kemp, J. D., Mahyuddin, M., Ely, D. G., Fox, J. D. and Moody, G. 1981. Effect of feeding systems, slaughter weight and sex on organoleptic properties, and fatty acid composition of lamb Journal ofAnimal Science 51: 321–330.Google Scholar
Lawlor, M. J. and Hopkins, S. P. 1981. The influence of perinatal undernutrition of twin-bearing ewes on milk yields and lamb performance and the effects of postnatal nutrition on live weight gain and carcass composition. British Journal of Nutrition 45: 579–586.Google Scholar
Lee, G. J., Harris, D. C., Ferguson, B. D. and Jelbart, R. A. 1990. Growth and carcass fatness of ewe, wether, ram and cryptorchid crossbred lambs reared at pasture: effects of weaning age Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 30: 743–747.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lough, D. S., Solomon, M. B., Rumsey, T. S., Kahl, S. and Slyter, L. L. 1993. Effects of high-forage diets with added palm oil on performance, plasma lipids, and carcass characteristics of ram and ewe lambs. Journal of Animal Science 71: 1171–1176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mahgoub, O. and Lodge, G. A. 1994. Growth and body composition of Omani local sheep. 1. Live-weight growth and carcass and non-carcass characteristics. Animal Production 58: 365–372.Google Scholar
Morgan, J. A. and Owen, J. B. 1973. The nutrition of artificially reared lambs. 3. The effect of sex on the performance and carcass composition of lambs subjected to different nutritional treatments. Animal Production 16: 49–57Google Scholar
Murphy, T. A., Loerch, S. C., McClure, K. E. and Solomon, M. B. 1994. Effects of restricted feeding on growth performance and carcass composition of lambs Journal of Animal Science 72: 3131–3137.Google Scholar
Notter, D. R., Kelly, R. F. and Berry, B. W. 1991. Effects of ewe breed and management system on efficiency of lamb production. III. Meat characteristics. Journal of Animal Science 69: 3523–3532.Google Scholar
Oliver, W. M., Carpenter, Z. L., King, G. T. and Shelton, J. M. 1967. Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of ram, wether and ewe lamb carcasses Journal of Animal Science 26: 307–310.Google Scholar
Osorio, J. C. 1992. Estudio de la calidad de canales comercializadas en el tipo Ternasco segun procedencia: Bases para la mejora de dicha calidad en Brasil. Tesrs doctoral, Universidad de Zaragoza.Google Scholar
Palsson, H. and Verges, J. B. 1952. Effects of the plane of nutrition on growth and the development of carcass quality in lambs. Journal ofAgricultural Science, Cambridge 42: 1–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renerre, M. and Valin, C. 1979. Influence de l'age sur les caracteristiques de la couleur des viandes bovines du race Limousine. Annales de Technologie et Agriculture 28: 319–332.Google Scholar
Rhodes, D. N. 1971. Comparison of the quality of meat from lambs reared intensively indoors and conventionally on grass. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 22: 667–668.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, A. F., Doney, J. M. and Gunn, R. G. 1969. Subjective assessment of body fat in live sheep Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 72: 451–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanudo, C. 1993. Calidad organoléptica de la came. In Tecnologia y Calidad de los Productos Cárnicos (ed. Navarra, Gobierno de, , Pamplona), pp. 45–84.Google Scholar
Sanudo, C., Delfa, R., Gonzalez, C., Alcalde, M. J., Casas, M., Santolaria, P. and Vigil, E. 1992a. Calidad de la carne del ternasco. Information Te'cnica Econdmica Agraria 88: 221·227.Google Scholar
Sanudo, C., Santolaria, P., Sierra, I., Alcalde, M. J. and Touraille, C. 1992b. Sensory meat characteristics from light lamb carcasses. Thirty eighth international congress of science and technology, vol 2, pp. 277–280.Google Scholar
Sanudo, C., Sierra, I., Olleta, J. L., Conesa, A. and Alcalde, M. J. 1989. La calidad de la carne en corderos ligeros tipo ternasco (10–12·5 kg): competencia con canales de procedencia extranjera. Actas de las XIV Jornadas Cientificas de la Sociedad Espanola de Ovinotecnia y Caprinotecnia. Jaén: 223·232.Google Scholar
Sarti, D. M., Morbidini, L., Panella, F., Sarti, F. M., Binaglia, L. and Iacurto, M. 1993. Caratteristiche chimiche della carne di agnelli appenninici in funzione dell'eta di macellazione e del livello nutritivo Zootecnica e Nutrizione Animate 19: 103–112.Google Scholar
Schonfeldt, H. C., Naude, R. T., Bok, W., Van Heerden, S. M. and Smit, R. 1993. Flavour and tenderness related quality characteristics of goat and sheep meat Meat Science 34: 363–379.Google Scholar
Sierra, I. 1973. Aportacion al estudio del cruce Blanco Belga por Landrace: caracteres productivos, calidad de la canal y de la carne. Revista del lnstituto de Economia y Producciones Ganaderas del Ebro, vol. 16, p. 43.Google Scholar
Sierra, I. 1974. El ternasco argones: description y caracteristicas fundamentales. Revista del lnstituto de Economia y Producciones Ganaderas del Ebro, vol. 18, p. 65.Google Scholar
Sierra, I. 1983. Influencia del genotipo, sexo, modo de nacimiento y epoca de parto-engorde sobre el crecimiento y otros parametros en el cordero. Thirty-fourth annual meeting of the European Association of Animal Production, Madrid, 2, pp. 586–587.Google Scholar
Solomon, M. B. and Lynch, G. P. 1988. Biochemical, histochemical and palatability characteristics of young ram lambs as affected by diet and electrical stimulation Journal ofAnimal Science 66: 1955–1962.Google Scholar
Solomon, M. B., Lynch, G. P. and Lough, D. S. 1992. Influence of dietary palm oil supplementation on serum lipid metabolites, carcass characteristics and lipid composition of carcass tissues of growing ram and ewe lambs Journal ofAnimal Science 70: 2746–2751.Google ScholarPubMed
Solomon, M. B., Lynch, G. P., Ono, K. and Paroczay, E. 1990. Lipid composition of muscle and adipose tissue from crossbred ram, wether and cryptorchid lambs Journal of Animal Science 68: 137–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Statistical Analysis Systems Institute. 1987. SAS user's guide: statistics. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.Google Scholar
Stokes, G. B. and Walker, D. M. 1970. The nutritive value of fat in the diet of the milk-fed lamb British Journal of Nutrition 24: 435–440.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Summers, R. L., Kemp, J. D., Ely, D. G. and Fox, J. D. 1978. Effects of weaning, feeding systems and sex of lamb on lamb carcass characteristics and palatability Journal of Animal Science 47: 622–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vernon, R. G. 1980. Lipid metabolism in the adipose tissue of ruminant animals Progress in Lipid Research 19: 23–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vipond, J. E., Marie, S. and Hunter, E. A. 1995. Effects of clover and milk in the diet of grazed lambs on meat quality. Journal of Animal Science 60: 231–238.Google Scholar
Webb, E. C., Casey, N. H. and Van Niekerk, W. A. 1994. Fatty acids in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of intensively fed SA mutton Merino and Dorper wethers. Meat Science 38: 123–131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Westerling, D. B. and Hedrick, H. B. 1979. Fatty acids composition of bovine lipids as influenced by diet, sex and anatomical location and relationship to sensory characteristics Journal ofAnimal Science 48: 1343–1348.Google Scholar
Wheeler, T. L. and Koohmaraie, M. 1994. Prerigor and postrigor changes in tenderness of ovine longissimus muscle Journal of Animal Science 72: 1232–1238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wood, J. D. 1984. Fat deposition and the quality of fat tissue in meat animals. In Fats in animal nutrition (ed. Wiseman, J.), pp. 407–435. Butterworth, London.Google Scholar
Woodhams, P. R., Kirton, A. H. and Jury, K. E. 1965. Palatability characteristics of crossbred lambs as related to individual Southdown sires, slaughter age, and carcass fatness. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 9: 268–275.Google Scholar
Wu, F. Y. and Savell, J. W. 1992. Effects of breed and sex on fatty acid composition of subcutaneous fat from sheep and goats Journal of the Chinese Society of Animal Science 21: 299–306.Google Scholar
Wynn, P. C. and Thwaites, C. J. 1981. The relative growth and development of the carcass tissues of Merino and crossbred rams and wethers Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 32: 947–956.CrossRefGoogle Scholar