Meat quality traits of male Herik lambs raised under an intensive fattening system

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine certain meat quality traits of Herik lambs finished under the intensive husbandry conditions. Twenty single male lambs with an average final weight of 42 kg were used in the study. Concentrate feed and fresh water were given ad libitum, whereas 300 g of alfalfa per lamb per day was provided. At 24 h postmortem, the pH levels were 5.51, 5.63, and 5.24 for musculus longissimus dorsi, musculus semitendinosus, and musculus semimembranosus, respectively. The corresponding Warner-Bratzler shear force values (P < 0.001) of cooked meat were 3.359, 2.318, and 3.601 respectively. At 24 h postmortem, the L*(42.18) and a* (19.95) values of Herik lambs were near the acceptable values of L*(34-35) and a*(19.00). At 72 h postmortem, cooking loss and water holding capacity were 34.78% and 10.55%, respectively. Chemical composition traits, namely dry matter (26.35%), protein (22.21%), ether extraction (2.98%), and ash percentage (1.02%), were similar to those of other indigenous breeds. Consequently, these results indicated that the meat of Herik lambs may be suitable for sale after the lambs are raised under an intensive fattening system.

Meat production characteristics of Turkish native breeds: II. meat quality, fatty acid, and cholesterol profile of lambs

“…Also, under intensive fattening conditions, L * , a * , and b * values of sheep breeds in Turkey measured at 24 h of postmortem were in the ranges of 37. 91-42.72, 16.08-21.26, and 5.60-8.45, respectively (Ekiz et al, 2009;Esenbuga et al, 2009;Yakan and Ünal, 2010;Ugurlu et al, 2017). In the present study, L * , a * , and b * values of 24 h post mortem were in the ranges of 41.…”

“…Thin-tail breeds have a higher fat content in carcasses compared to fat-tail breeds, which store most of the fat in their tails. Previous studies reported that male lambs of the KR sheep breed, which is a thin-tail breed, have tasty meat due to their mosaic distribution pattern of fat among muscle fibers (Ulutas et al, 2010;Sen et al, 2011). At the end of the fattening period in the present study, KR lambs had a higher intramuscular fat content than other breeds.…”

“…The cooking loss values of different indigenous sheep breeds in Turkey ranged between 25.57 % and 34.78 % Esenbuga et al, 2009;Yakan and Ünal 2010;Ugurlu et al, 2017). In this study, cooking loss values of A, M, KR, KV, IW, and MAM were measured as 31.…”

Slaughter performance and meat quality of Begait breed lambs fattened under different diets

“…The dietary treatment had no significant effect on the other two-color indexes (a* and b*), in agreement with the findings of Gashu et al (2017) and Zewide et al (2019) in which a* and b* were not influenced by diet differences for Ethiopian sheep breeds. Since a bright red color is an important criterion for meat quality traits, influencing the purchasing decisions of consumers as it is the first factor seen by the consumer, and is used as an indication of freshness and wholesomeness (Joo et al, 2013;Ugurlu et al, 2017). Fresh lamb meat should have values higher than 34 for L* and 9.5 for a* to be considered acceptable by consumers.…”

“…In agreement with this, results obtained by Sch€ onfeldt et al (1993) indicate that fattened sheep and goat carcasses correlate positively with tenderness of muscle. It is believed that the consumer perceives cooked ruminant meat to be too tough if it has a shear force value of more than about 44-55 N (Ugurlu et al, 2017).…”