The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the quality characteristics, chemical
composition and lipid profile of lamb meat from Italian (Biellese and Sambucana) and
German (Texel-Merino-Blackhead-Charollais [TMBC]) breeds reared in extensive and
semi-extensive production systems. Meat samples from 89 animals were analysed.
The meat of the lambs from semi-intensively reared Biellese, and extensively reared
Sambucana and TMBC breeds produced lean meat, with slightly higher intramuscular
fat content in TMBC. The latter also produced meat of darker colour (P<0.05) and
higher protein content (P<0.05). The meat of Sambucana lambs presented the lowest
total cholesterol content (P<0.05). The fatty acid profile of the meat showed a clear
advantage of both extensively reared breeds, which had substantially lower proportion
of saturated (SFA) but higher of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), particularly n-3
(P<0.05). The beneficial effect of the extensive rearing conditions was associated with
lower n-6/n3 ratio, and atherogenic (AI) and thrombogenic (TI) indices, thereby
suggesting that production system can be used successfully to modify the fatty acid
profile to achieve a positive effect for the human health