Nutritional and sensory properties of mouflon x Sarda lamb meat

Abstract

Suckling lamb is a typical foodstuff of the Mediterranean dairy sheep breeding. The milk lamb produced in Sardinia is much appreciated for its organoleptic characters. Nevertheless, since it is fed with ewe-milk, it has production costs that are not entirely repaid by market prices. A greater exploitation occurred since PGI (geographical indication) was accomplished, but an improvement could be attained also through crossbreeding between dairy and meat breeds. The aim of this research was to determine nutritional and sensory traits of the lamb meat obtained from the crossbred between Mouflon and Sarda sheep breed. Ten carcasses of the crossbred were compared to ten carcasses of pure Sarda breed. All the carcasses were classified for weight, quality, meat color and fat class. The acidic profile was determined on intramuscular and depot fat using gaschromatography. Sensorial investigation was performed on meat after cooking, using an affective method. Data were submitted to statistical analysis. Crossbred meat is leaner and it provides a lower caloric intake (P<0.01). Fatty acid profile of fat depots were similar between the two groups, while as regards the composition of intramuscular fat, Sarda lambs had a higher percentage of MUFA (P<0.01) and lower nutritional indexes. Consumer test indicated a clear preference (P<0.01) for crossbred meat, that has a stronger taste, even though it is slightly less tender. On the whole, data pointed out a good nutritional quality for meat of both genotypes, but crossbred meat has better sensorial characteristics