Fatty acid composition of lamb meat from the autochthonous Jezersko-Solčava breed reared in different production systems

Thirty two autochthonous Jezersko-Solčava lambs were used to investigate the effect of production (pasture vs. stable) and weaning system (suckling vs. weaned) on fatty acid composition of Longissimus dorsi intramuscular fat in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Pasture lambs had lower intramuscular fat concentration (P < 0.0001) more PUFA and trans C18:1, more ALA (P = 0.0322), ARA (< 0.0001) and EPA (0.0149) but less SFA (P < 0.0001) than stable lambs. Weaning system affected PUFA (P = 0.0040) and MUFA (P = 0.0070) but not SFA and trans C18:1 fatty acids. The interaction of production system and weaning system was significant mainly for trans C18:1 and trans C18:2 fatty acids. Finally, lamb meat from all four treatments which are traditionally used in rearing of Jezersko-Solčava lambs are favourable from the nutritive point of view, due to their low n − 6/n − 3 ratio.