TITLE:
Effect of the Type of Pasture on the Meat Characteristics of Chilote Lambs
AUTHORS:
Jorge Ramírez-Retamal, Rodrigo Morales, M. Eugenia Martínez, Rodrigo de la Barra
KEYWORDS:
Rangeland; Feeding; Quality; Fatty Acids
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.5 No.7,
March
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: Chilote sheep are a native breed from Chiloé
Archipelago in the southern Chile. They are descendants from sheep originally introduced by the Spaniards in the 1600s, and
then evolved in a harsh environment in relative isolation from the continent.
There is little information about the quality of the meat of the Chilote lambs
(Ch). The objective of this study was to compare the quality of Ch lamb meat
with two types of marginal pastures. The two treatments were: 1) Ch lambs,
naturalized grassland (n = 13) and 2) Ch lambs, rangeland (n = 11). Rangeland is composed of both
grasses and native shrubs. All lambs were kept with their mothers until
slaughter at 90 days of age. Instrumental color, shear force, pH levels, and
chemical and fatty acid content were analyzed. The pasture type did affect the results, given that Ch lambs fed on
naturalized pasture had a lower shear force and higher intramuscular fat levels
whereas Ch lambs fed on rangeland pasture showed higher percentages of n-3, n-6 fatty acids and Polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, the concentrations of fatty acids
were similar in both groups. The results indicated some evidences that the type
of pasture of Chiloe archipelago confers specific differences of quality that could form the basis to
generate a premium product.