Determination of Meat Quality in Extensively Reared Akkaraman Sheep Breed

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of breed on meat quality of Akkaraman sheep breed reared in extensive production systems in Turkey. Animal material for the study consisted of 32 male lambs belonging to Akkaraman sheep breed in three and six month age groups raised solely on pasture after weaning. Post weaning 16 of each animal were slaughtered at 90 days and 16 of each animal was slaughtered at 180 days of age. The meat quality factors such as cooking loss and shear force were determined instrumentally on the M. longissimus dorsi (MLD) and M. semitendinosus (MST). Some muscle characteristics belong to M. longissimus dorsi (MLD) such as backfat thickness, muscle depth, muscle width and muscle area were determined in two different age group. Fatty acid composition were determined only in M. longissimus dorsi. The effect of age and muscle type on cooking loss and shear force were significant (P < 0.01). Muscle area in 3 and 6 month old lambs were 9.72 and 15.95 cm2, respectively, while muscle depth for the same ages were 3.24 and 3.88 cm, respectively. Lambs with three months of age group showed slight superiority in terms of muscle area, muscle depth and muscle width in Musculus longissimus dorsi (MLD) samples. Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) composition was significantly influenced by age differences while conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was not statistically significant on the age differences. The study results clearly showed that age significantly affects some of muscle fatty acid composition and muscle characteristics.