Abstract
Two hundred eight sheep, belonging to two main breeds of eastern Morocco, “Beni-Guil” and “Ouled-Djellal,” were investigated for carcass traits and meat quality. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of breed and age at slaughter on carcass traits and meat quality. The animals were slaughtered at three age classes: milk teeth, animals with two adult teeth, and adult animals. Dressing percentage, carcass measurements, compactness indices, carcass shrinkage parameter, conformation scores, fatness state, fat consistency, fat and meat colour, and pH were measured 24 hours postmortem. The results showed that the dressing percentage, carcass measurements, and compactness indices increased with slaughter age (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the effect of breed was higher for Ouled-Djellal breed of carcass characteristics (p < 0.01). However, no significant effect was observed for carcass shrinkage parameter. The longissimus lumborum muscle was used to determine the meat colour, which ranged from 23.89 to 21.96, while the ultimate pH ranged from 5.70 to 5.82. These results were influenced by age at slaughter (p < 0.05) but not influenced by breed. Breed and age at slaughter had a significant influence on carcass traits (p < 0.001). The present study provided a new insight into the effect of breed and age at slaughter on carcass and meat traits of both “Beni-Guil-PGI” and Ouled-Djellal sheep breeds.
Highlights
Despite the deteriorating state of the eastern Morocco highlands, their grazing areas contribute largely to feeding its livestock. e Beni-Guil (BG) breed remains the dominant sheep breed in the oriental with its particular specificities; it is an autochthonous breed by transhumance, highly widespread for its rusticity, adaptability, prolificacy, performance in fattening, and industrial crossbreeding
It is noted that this program is based uniquely on phenotypic traits, as an animal breeding mass selection method that did not take into account carcass distinctive features
Animals moved south in winter and north in summer within the same area to graze on the Alfa (Stipa tenacissima) and wormwood (Artemisia herba-alba) steppes. e dominant plant species in the steppe and highland pasture of Eastern Morocco included wormwood (Artemisia herbaalba), alfa grass (Stipa tenacissima), sparta grass (Lygeum spartum), Atriplex (Atriplex halimus), ray-grass (Lolium perenne L.), laser white (Laserpitium latifolium), and sweet broom (Arthrophytum scoparium), along with the presence of other species, such as Bromus spp., Eruca vesicaria, Stipa capensis, and Medicago spp. e diet of the ewes was composed of natural pastures when available mainly based on alfa and wormwood formation with the presence other species depending the season
Summary
Kamal Belhaj ,1,2 Farid Mansouri ,1 Aziz Tikent ,1,2 Yassin Taaifi, Mohamed Boukharta, Hana Caid Serghini, and Ahmed Elamrani 1. Two hundred eight sheep, belonging to two main breeds of eastern Morocco, “Beni-Guil” and “Ouled-Djellal,” were investigated for carcass traits and meat quality. E objective of this study is to determine the effects of breed and age at slaughter on carcass traits and meat quality. Carcass measurements, compactness indices, carcass shrinkage parameter, conformation scores, fatness state, fat consistency, fat and meat colour, and pH were measured 24 hours postmortem. E results showed that the dressing percentage, carcass measurements, and compactness indices increased with slaughter age (p < 0.001). Breed and age at slaughter had a significant influence on carcass traits (p < 0.001). E present study provided a new insight into the effect of breed and age at slaughter on carcass and meat traits of both “Beni-Guil-PGI” and Ouled-Djellal sheep breeds Breed and age at slaughter had a significant influence on carcass traits (p < 0.001). e present study provided a new insight into the effect of breed and age at slaughter on carcass and meat traits of both “Beni-Guil-PGI” and Ouled-Djellal sheep breeds
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