Influence of Outdoor and Indoor Rearing System of Suckling Lambs on Fatty Acid Profile and Lipid Oxidation of Raw and Cooked Meat

Abstract

Effect of outdoor (OUT) or indoor (IND) rearing systems (RS) of 48 male and female Sarda suckling lambs on fatty acid (FA) composition and lipid oxidation of raw and cooked meat was studied. Ewes grazed daily on natural pasture for 6 h. During grazing time of ewes, IND lambs were kept indoors whereas OUT lambs followed the mother. Slaughter age was 28 days. RS did not affect meat chemical composition, pH, cooking loss and FA profile. Microwave cooking changed markedly the concentrations of almost all meat FAs and FA classes: short (-28%) and medium chain fatty acids (-11%), saturated fatty acids (-7.6%), odd-number carbon and branched-chain FA (-11.8%), proportion of long chain fatty acids (+5.3%) and PUFAn3 (+37.3%) and PUFAn6 (+26.1%) class. Sex influenced significantly the concentration of the main odd-number carbon and branched chain fatty acid. OUT rearing system increased MDA concentration (P<0.01). RS × cooking interaction affected PUFA and MDA, which were higher in cooked samples of OUT than IND lambs. The results evidenced that the meat composition of suckling lambs is affected by the feeding system of the mother rather than the management system of lambs.

KeyWords:

• Lamb
• Meat quality
• Fatty acid profile
• Oxidation
• Rearing system

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the following members of the Department of Agraria of the University of Sassari: Ana Helena Dias Francesconi for reviewing and editing the manuscript, and Antonio Fenu, Gesumino Spanu and Antonio Mazza for technical assistance during the experiment.