Elsevier

Meat Science

Volume 90, Issue 2, February 2012, Pages 426-430
Meat Science

Chemical and physical characteristics of lamb meat related to crossbreeding of Romanov ewes with Suffolk and Charollais sires

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2011.08.012Get rights and content

Abstract

The aim was to evaluate the effects of crossbreeding Romanov (RO) ewes with Suffolk (SF) and Charollais (CH) sires on the chemicophysical characteristics and FA profile of the Quadriceps femoris muscle (QFM) in lambs fattened under organic conditions. The experimental animals were male lamb twins of two different crossbreds; CH 50 RO 50 and SF 50 RO 50. Lambs were slaughtered at an average live weight of 31 kg. CH 50 RO 50 displayed higher contents of dry matter and intramuscular fat of the QFM. A lower pH value of CH 50 RO 50 was reflected in an increase of WHC. Meat of SF 50 RO 50 lambs had more lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*). The CH 50 RO 50 genotype showed a significantly higher proportion of C18:3n−3cis and n−3 PUFA than the SF 50 RO 50 genotype. The genotype also affected the Δ9-desaturase (16) index.

Highlights

► The effect of crossbreeding on lamb meat characteristics. ► Lambs were fattened under organic conditions. ► The genotype affected the pH value, WHC, and colour of meat. ► The genotype had a minor effect on PUFA profile of muscle. ► The value of Δ9-desaturase (16) index was affected by the genotype.

Introduction

Most sheep farms on mountainous areas in the Czech Republic (CR) raise mainly meat type breeds (Suffolk, Charollais and Oxford down) and selected dual and multi-purpose type breeds (Romney March, Šumavská breed and Merinolandschaf). However, recently the number of Romanov sheep has increased.

The Romanov breed (RO) is renowned worldwide for its early sexual maturity, long breeding season and high prolificacy (Stanford, Wallins, Jones, & Price, 1998). Furthermore, within the prolific type sheep Shrestha, Boylan, and Rempel (2008b) found that the RO breed achieved higher prolificacy and fecundity, heavier ewe weight, favourable lamb survival and heavier total lamb weights. On the other hand, a typical feature of this breed is a relatively low growth rate and poor carcass quality compared to traditional meat type breeds. The fastest and the simplest way of improving the growth and carcass quality in RO lambs consists of using commercial crossing with the meat type breeds (Stanford et al., 1998). In this regard the Romanov ewes are the most frequently crossed with Suffolk (SF) sires in the CR (Zapletal, Kuchtík, & Dobeš, 2010) and also relatively frequently with Charollais (CH) sires.

Today's consumers are currently searching for healthier foods, with lower fat and cholesterol contents (Costa et al., 2009). The profile of fatty acids in the human diet has received increased attention due to their impact on human health. Lamb fat deposition and composition of fatty acids (FA) can be influenced by many factors including breed, gender, age/body weight, fatness, depot site, environmental conditions, diet, and rearing management (Diaz et al., 2005). The effect of crossbreeding on the FA composition of lamb meat has been confirmed by Salvatori et al. (2004). There are only a few studies evaluating the nutritional quality of lamb meat fattened under organic farming conditions (Angood et al., 2008, Nurnberg et al., 2006, Zapletal et al., 2010), and there is little or no information about the FA composition of lamb meat in crossbreeding Suffolk × Romanov or Charollais × Romanov.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of crossbreeding Romanov ewes with Suffolk and Charollais sires on the chemicophysical characteristics and fatty acid profile of the Quadriceps femoris muscle in lambs fattened under organic conditions.

Section snippets

Animals and experimental design

The experiment was carried out at an organic sheep farm in Kuklík, located in the Vysočina region of the Czech Republic (the farm is situated at 680 m above sea level with an average annual temperature of 6.8 °C and precipitation of 965 mm). The experimental animals were male lamb twins of two different crossbreds of Romanov breed; Charollais–Romanov (CH 50 RO 50, n = 10) and Suffolk–Romanov (SF 50 RO 50, n = 10). All lambs were born indoors during March 2009. From their birth to May 3 all lambs were

Growth rate and carcass characteristics

The birth and slaughter weights, age at slaughter, average daily gain, carcass traits (weight of cold carcass and kidney fat) are summarised in Table 1. CH 50 RO 50 lambs were significantly younger at slaughter with higher ADG in the period from birth to slaughter. The effect of genotype on the growth rate of lambs has been reported by Burke et al., 2003, Costa et al., 2009. The growth rate of both genotypes was higher than reported by Costa et al., 2009, Scerra et al., 2010 in relatively

Conclusions

The Charollais crossbreds reached a higher growth rate and weight of kidney fat than the Suffolk crossbreds. Concerning the chemical composition of the QFM, the contents of dry matter and IM fat were significantly affected by genotype, being higher in the Charollais crossbreds. As for physical characteristics of the QFM, genotype had a significant effect on pH 24 and WHC. A lower pH value in the meat of Charollais crossbreds was reflected in increased WHC. Meat from the Suffolk crossbreds was

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Research plans No. MSM 2B06108 and MSM 6215712402.

References (57)

  • N. Esenbuga et al.

    Effect of breed on fattening performance, slaughter weight and meat quality characteristics of Awassi and Morkaraman lambs

    Livestock Science

    (2009)
  • J. Gutierrez et al.

    Effects of crossbreeding Mexican Pelibuey sheep with Rambouillet and Suffolk on carcass traits

    Meat Science

    (2005)
  • M. Joy et al.

    Effects of feeding system on carcass and non-carcass composition of Churra Tensina light lambs

    Small Ruminant Research

    (2008)
  • M. Juarez et al.

    Meat and fat quality of unweaned lambs as affected by slaughter weights and breed

    Meat Science

    (2009)
  • C.J. Kim et al.

    Effects of quality grade on the chemical, physical and sensory characteristics of Hanwoo (Korean native cattle) beef

    Meat Science

    (2003)
  • Y.C. Kim et al.

    Regulation of stearoyl-CoA desaturase genes: Role in cellular metabolism and preadipocyte differentiation

    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications

    (1999)
  • R. Marino et al.

    Influence of genotype and slaughtering age on meat from Altamurana and Trimeticcio lambs

    Small Ruminant Research

    (2008)
  • G. Oriani et al.

    Effect of age on fatty acid composition of Italian Merino suckling lambs

    Meat Science

    (2005)
  • K. Raes et al.

    Meat quality, fatty acid composition and flavour analysis in Belgian retail beef

    Meat Science

    (2003)
  • G. Salvatori et al.

    Fatty acid composition and cholesterol content of muscles as related to genotype and vitamin E treatment in crossbred lambs

    Meat Science

    (2004)
  • S.D. Shackelford et al.

    Palatability of beef from bulls administered exogenous hormones

    Meat Science

    (1992)
  • A.P. Simopoulos

    The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids. (Dosier: Polyunsaturated fatty acids in biology and diseases)

    Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy

    (2002)
  • K. Stanford et al.

    Breeding Finnish Landrace and Romanov ewes with terminal sires for out-of-season market lamb production

    Small Ruminant Research

    (1998)
  • J.F. Tejeda et al.

    Effect of live weight and sex on physico-chemical and sensorial characteristics of Merino lamb meat

    Meat Science

    (2008)
  • T.L.V. Ulbricht et al.

    Coronary heart disease: Seven dietary factors

    Lancet

    (1991)
  • S. Yu et al.

    Plasma cholesterol-predictive equations demonstrate that stearic acid is neutral and monosaturated fatty acids are hypocholesterolemic

    The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

    (1995)
  • D. Zapletal et al.

    Breed variation in the chemical and fatty acid compositions of the Longissimus dorsi muscle in Czech Fleckvieh and Montbeliarde cattle

    Livestock Science

    (2009)
  • AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists)

    Hydroxyproline in meat products

    Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists

    (1996)
  • Cited by (20)

    • Carcass measurements, non-carcass components and cut production of local Brazilian Pantaneiro sheep and crossbreeds of Texel and Santa Inês with Pantaneiro

      2015, Small Ruminant Research
      Citation Excerpt :

      Even so, little by little, the exotic breeds replaced the native breeds to such an extent that native breeds, such as Morada Nova, a breed of hair sheep, are now in danger of extinction (Mariante and Egito, 2002). Studies from Brazil (Souza et al., 2013), Czech Republic (Kuchtík et al., 2012), Iran (Esmailizadeh et al., 2012; Yousefi et al., 2012), Tunisia (Bedhiaf-Romdhani et al., 2008), and Turkey (Ekiz et al., 2009, 2012; Gökdal et al., 2012; Yakan and Ünal, 2010) have assessed the performance of local breeds and crossbreeds in different production systems. The findings of these studies provide evidence that local breeds can be used as an alternative to crossbreeds without negative effects on productivity and highlight the importance of the maintenance of genetic resources from local breeds.

    • Using near infrared spectroscopy to predict the physical traits of Bos grunniens meat

      2015, LWT
      Citation Excerpt :

      The physical traits of meat are closely related to consumer preferences (Hoffman, 2006; Hoffman, Kroucamp, & Manley, 2007; Hoffman, Mostert, Kidd, & Laubscher, 2009; Hoffman, Muller, Cloete, & Brand, 2008). Physical traits, such as tenderness, water holding capacity (WHC) and chromatic features are major factors that influence the purchasing decisions of consumers (Kuchtík, Zapletal, & Šustová, 2012; Mora, Curti, Vittadini, & Barbanti, 2011; Oliete et al., 2006; Polidori, Cavallucci, Beghelli, & Vincenzetti, 2009; Sekar, Dushyanthan, Radhakrishnan, & Babu, 2006) and are widely used for evaluation of meat quality. It is helpful for collecting data regarding yak meat quality in China to establish a rapid method of the physical traits.

    • Effect of genotype, gender and age on sheep meat quality and a case study illustrating integration of knowledge

      2014, Meat Science
      Citation Excerpt :

      Other studies involving purebreds and crossbreds have not found any differences in muscle pH levels of Romney and East Friesian breeds (Purchas et al., 2002) or the Elliottdale carpet wool breed (Hopkins, Gilbert, Pirlot, & Roberts, 1992). Unfortunately, in some studies where genotype has been found to impact on traits like pH and meat colour there is inadequate detail provided (e.g. Cloete et al., 2012; Kuchtík, Zapletal, & Šustová, 2012) about sire breed representation to conclude whether the differences are a genuine breed effect or due to individual sires. While meat from Merinos is more susceptible to high pH than meat from other types, there is little evidence of genetic type impacting on objectively measured fresh colour (Dransfield et al., 1979; Fogarty et al., 2000, 2003; Hopkins, Hegarty, & Farrell, 2005; Hopkins, Stanley, Martin, et al., 2007).

    • Meat quality characteristics of lambs of three organically raised breeds

      2012, Meat Science
      Citation Excerpt :

      The fact that the differences in the predicted values of FA content (adjusted for IMF) were established only in the case of myristic acid (Table 4) could be partially explained by the relatively low number of animals per breed used. However, the number of lambs per experimental group in the present experiment is comparable with the designs of many recently published papers testing qualitative parameters (not only fatty acid content) of lamb meat, where the number of animals per experimental group ranged from six (Yakan & Ünal, 2010) to ten (Jacques, Berthiaume, & Cinq-Mars, 2011; Kuchtík et al., 2012; Scerra et al., 2011; Zapletal et al., 2010) to twelve (Tejeda et al. (2008). Similarly to the present findings, Marino et al. (2008), Juárez et al. (2009) and Zapletal et al. (2010) reported an effect of genotype on the percentage of myristic acid and LA in lamb IMF.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text