Abstract
Much of the past research into gender effects on lamb meat quality has focussed on comparing ram lambs with
castrated males, but more recent comparisons between ram and ewe lambs have yielded variable results. The objective of the
current research was to compare meat quality parameters of M. longissimus lumborum (LL), and M. semimembranosus (SM)
from pasture-fed Texel ram (n = 94) and ewe (n = 114) lambs slaughtered at an average age of 144 days in a commercial
abattoir. After aging carcasses for between 7 and 9 days, LL andSMwere significantly tougher (higher shear values) for ram
compared with ewe lambs (P < 0.001). LL from rams had significantly lower intramuscular fat percentage, and higher
moisture content than LL from ewes. Differences in LL intramuscular fat percentage or ultimate pH did not explain the
sex effect on LL shear force when tested individually or together as additional covariates in the model. Ram SM was lighter
in colour (higher L*) and had a higher cooking loss than that of ewes (P < 0.001). The correlations between some of the traits
within and between muscles clearly differed between the sexes. Finishing ram lambs to the specifications used in this
experiment resulted in meat with relatively minor, but statistically significant differences in quality relative to that from ewe
lambs.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 601 - 607 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Animal Production Science |
Volume | 52 |
Publication status | First published - 2012 |
Bibliographical note
1025109Keywords
- Meat colour
- Volodkevitch
- Warner–Bratzler