Carcass and meat quality characteristics of Oula lambs in China

- This study was the first time reported that slaughter, carcass and meat quality characteristics of grazing Oula ram lambs.
- The water-holding capacity, tenderness of shear force, eye muscle area, GR, color, marbling, suet, attar and protein content were not significantly influenced by slaughter weight, while pH change between 0 and 24 h significantly decreased with rising slaughter weight.
- The intramuscular fat of the musculus longissimus dorsi displayed rising desirable fatty acids, nutritive value, ratio of PUFA/SFA, TUFA/SFA, MUFA/SFA and n6/n3, but decreasing AI and TI values as slaughter weight increased.

The objective of this study was to determine the slaughter, carcass, and meat quality characteristics of grazing Oula ram lambs slaughtered at different weights. Eight single-born ram lambs were slaughtered at each of five weights of 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 kg. Dressing percentages and carcass compactness indices increased with greater slaughter weight. The proportions of individual cuts varied with slaughter weight; skin (P < 0.01), head (P < 0.05) and testicle (P < 0.01) percentages increased; whereas, lung (P < 0.05), liver (P < 0.05), spleen (P < 0.01) and kidney (P < 0.05) percentages decreased. GR, eye muscle area, tenderness, water-holding capacity, meat color, marbling, suet, attar and protein content did not vary significantly among the slaughter weight groups, although lambs slaughtered at 25 and 30 kg displayed the greatest postmortem decrease in pH in the semimembranosus muscule (P < 0.05). Analyses of fatty acid content were carried out on the longissimus muscle of the 13th rib. Total unsaturated fatty acids content and n6/n3 ratio increased; whereas, cooking loss, saturated fatty acid content and pH fall in musculus longissimus dorsi decreased with greater slaughter weights (P < 0.05). The atherogenic index and thrombogenic index showed a decreasing trend with increasing slaughter weight, but these trends were not statistically significant. These results provide a basic understanding of slaughter, carcass and meat quality characteristics of grazing Oula sheep production using an indigenous sheep breed in China.