Abstract
The per capita consumption of sheep meat in Brazil is still small compared to meat originating from other animal species, the lipid profile of meat named as responsible for reduced consumption. Despite the influence of sex, breed, weight at slaughter and environment, diet is seen as a major factor influencing the lipid composition of sheep meat. This study evaluated the effect of replacing corn by corn germ meal (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) in the diet of Santa Inês sheep on the meat's chemical and lipid composition. Forty non-emasculated animals were distributed in a randomized block experimental design, with five treatments and eight replications, and slaughtered after 70 days of confinement. There was no influence of the substitution on the meat's chemical composition. No effects on the total saturated fatty acids (SFA) were observed, but there was a decreasing linear effect on the total monounsaturated fatty acids (MFA) and an increasing linear effect on the total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PFA). The PFA:SFA and ω-6:ω-3 ratios increased with the substitution level. Corn germ meal had no effect on the meat's chemical composition, but improved the nutritional quality of the lipid fraction, enriching it with compounds beneficial for human health.
Highlights
The per capita consumption of sheep meat in Brazil is still small when compared with the consumption of poultry, pig and bovine meat, regardless of the considerable growth of the sheep effective observed during the past decade
The fat in the adipose deposits of ruminants is rich in triglycerides, mainly saturated fatty acids, with low quantities of polyunsaturated fatty acids
The meat samples used in this study originated from 40 non-emasculated Santa Inês sheep, at five months of age and an initial weight of 17.0 ± 2.5 kg, used in a performance assay conducted by Silva et al (2013) at the Department of Animal Science of the Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, located in Recife, State of Pernambuco (PE), Brazil), where the nutrient consumption, digestibility and performance were evaluated
Summary
The per capita consumption of sheep meat in Brazil is still small when compared with the consumption of poultry, pig and bovine meat, regardless of the considerable growth of the sheep effective observed during the past decade The increase of this consumption directly depends on the regular supply and the quality of the product available to the consumer, which currently demands sheep meat with standardized quality, without excessive fat, and with a high level of softness. The fat in the adipose deposits of ruminants is rich in triglycerides, mainly saturated fatty acids, with low quantities of polyunsaturated fatty acids This lipid profile has been responsible for the decrease in consumption of meat and meat derivatives in some countries (Bas et al, 2007), due to the strong relation between the quality of ingested fat and human health (Rioux, Legrand, 2007). Agrotec., Lavras, v.38, n.6, p.581-588, nov./dez., 2014
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