Seasonal variation in the fatty acid profile in meat of Sarda suckling lambs

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition and energy value in Femoral biceps of Sarda suckling lambs in different slaughter months.

	Slaughter month					SEM	p Value
Item	December	January	February	March	April
n.	5	5	5	5	5
Fat, %	1.89	2.34	2.18	1.72	1.73	0.085	.057
Protein, %	20.20	19.82	19.18	19.30	19.54	0.160	.259
Moisture, %	75.74	75.74	76.54	76.86	76.75	0.186	.132
Ash, %	1.31^a	1.27^ab	1.18^bc	1.16^c	1.15^c	0.016	<.01
Energy value, kJ/100 g	432.98	443.11	425.53	410.28	415.01	9.629	.142

n.: number of samples; ns: not significant; SEM: standard error of the mean.

^a–cMean values in the same row with different letters differ at p ≤ .05 (Tukey’s test).

Table 2. Fatty acid profile (g/100 g of FA) of intramuscular fat in Femoral biceps muscle of Sarda suckling-lambs in different slaughter months.

Item	Slaughter month					SEM	p Value
	December	January	February	March	April
n.	5	5	5	5	5
10:0	0.15^ab	0.10^b	0.22^a	0.14^ab	0.15^ab	0.012	.014
12:0	0.33^b	0.30^b	0.52^a	0.46^ab	0.50 ^a	0.029	.037
14:0	3.45^ab	3.28^b	5.12^a	3.34^b	3.63^ab	0.215	.019
14:1 n-5	0.17^ab	0.12^b	0.22^a	0.13^ab	0.14^ab	0.011	.026
15:0 iso	0.10^bc	0.10^c*	0.16^a	0.13^b	0.12^bc	0.005	.001
15:0 anteiso	0.11^b	0.14^b	0.20^a	0.20^a	0.21^a	0.010	.001
15:0	0.37^b	0.33^b	0.55^a	0.48^ab	0.49^ab	0.022	.001
16:0 iso	2.54	1.94	2.33	3.09	2.77	0.150	.144
16:0	16.64^b	16.70^b	19.65^a	15.24^b	15.54^b	0.419	.001
16:1 n-7	1.37^ab	1.26^ab	1.59^a	1.04^b	1.06 ^b	0.068	.042
17:0 iso	0.47	0.48	0.59	0.50	0.50	0.014	.058
17:0 anteiso	0.38^b	0.39^ab	0.49^a	0.39^ab	0.39^ab	0.012	.020
17:0	0.74^b	0.70^b	0.92^a	0.73^b	0.75^b	0.021	.002
17:1 n-8	0.46	0.42	0.52	0.38	0.40	0.020	.435
18:0	11.70	12.97	10.84	12.50	12.48	0.286	.133
18:1 t-6, t-7, t-8	0.12	0.15	0.12	0.14	0.11	0.029	.822
18:1 t-9	0.21	0.24	0.19	0.23	0.22	0.030	.780
18:1 t-10	0.57	0.28	0.20	0.37	0.36	0.173	.639
18:1 t-11 (VA)	1.35^b	2.24^a	1.20^b	2.07^a	2.17^a	0.142	.029
18:1 n-9	30.77^ab	35.04^a	28.63^ab	26.44^b	27.41^b	0.952	.019
18:1 c-11	1.43	1.29	1.18	1.56	1.53	0.051	.068
18:2 n-6 (LA)	9.32^ab	5.68^b	7.14^ab	10.65^a	9.93^a	0.548	.009
18:3 n-3 (ALA)	1.52	1.64	2.52	2.13	1.96	0.150	.224
18:2 c-9, t-11 (CLA)	1.01	1.36	0.90	1.22	1.25	0.065	.147
18:2 t-10, c-12 (CLA)	0.019	0.015	0.015	0.018	0.018	0.005	.751
20:3 n-6	0.34^ab	0.25^b	0.32^ab	0.41^a	0.38^ab	0.005	.043
20:4 n-6	3.92	2.48	2.81	4.31	4.09	0.269	.100
20:3 n-3	0.04	0.04	0.06	0.06	0.05	0.003	.095
20:4 n-3	0.04	0.05	0.07	0.05	0.05	0.005	.220
20:5 n-3 (EPA)	1.07	0.97	1.70	1.13	1.03	0.103	.149
24:1 n-9	0.01^b	0.02^a	0.01^b	0.02^a	0.02^ab	0.001	.001
22:5 n-3 (DPA)	1.36	1.24	1.67	1.50	1.45	0.078	.537
22:6 n-3 (DHA)	0.96	0.83	1.02	0.81	0.76	0.057	.604

ALA: α-linolenic acid; CLA: conjugated linoleic acid isomer; DHA, docosapentaenoic acid; DPA, docosapentaenoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; LA, linoleic acid; n.: number of samples; SEM: standard error of the mean; VA: vaccenic acid.

^a–cMean values in the same row with different letters differ at p ≤ 0.05 (Tukey’s test).

Table 3. Partial sums of fatty acids (% of total FA) of intramuscular fat of Femoral biceps of Sarda suckling-lambs in different slaughter months.

Item	Slaughter months					SEM	P Value
	December	January	February	March	April
n	5	5	5	5	5
ΣSCFA	0.19^ab	0.13^b	0.26^a	0.18^ab	0.19^ab	0.012	.011
ΣMCFA	40.44^b	40.68^b	45.18^a	40.43^b	40.74^b	0.542	.008
ΣLCFA	58.12^a	58.23^a	53.67^b	58.06^a	57.79^a	0.513	.007
% SFA	37.16^b	37.60^b	41.77^a	37.42^b	37.73^b	0.521	.012
% MUFA	38.78^ab	43.45^a	36.01^b	35.32^b	36.35^b	0.897	.012
% PUFA	22.80	17.98	21.33	25.92	24.63	0.982	.079
% n-3	5.03	4.81	7.10	5.71	5.33	0.360	.287
% n-6	14.17^ab	8.92^b	10.83^ab	16.07^a	15.08^a	0.832	.017
% OBCFA	5.28^ab	4.62^b	5.88^a	6.04^a	5.76^a	0.283	.014
% 18:1 trans	2.66^ab	3.40^ab	2.12^b	3.66^a	3.75^a	0.194	.017
% Total TFA	5.46^ab	6.85^ab	4.94^b	7.02^ab	7.19^a	0.283	.018
Nutritional indexes and ratios
TI	0.77	0.81	0.81	0.73	0.76	0.025	.842
AI	0.53^b	0.53^b	0.77^a	0.51^b	0.54^b	0.029	.011
h/H	2.57^a	2.50^ab	1.95^b	2.65^a	2.54^ab	0.078	.161
MUFA/SFA	1.04^ab	1.16^a	0.87^b	0.94^b	0.96^b	0.027	.002
PUFA/SFA	0.62	0.48	0.52	0.70	0.65	0.030	.097
n-6/n-3	3.21	2.02	1.53	2.94	2.94	0.220	.056

AI: atherogenic index; h/H: hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio; HP-PUFA: sum of PUFA with three or more double bonds; LCFA: long chain FA (≥C18); MCFA: medium chain FA (C12-C17); MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids (14:1, Σ16:1, Σ17:1, Σ18:1); n.: number of samples; OBCFA: odd- and branched-chain fatty acids (13:0, 13:0 iso, 13:0 anteiso, 14:0 iso, 15:0 iso, 15:0 anteiso, 16:0 iso, 17:0, 17:0 iso, 17:0 anteiso, Σ17:1); PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids (total n-6, total n-3); PUFA n-3 (18:3 n-3, 18:4 n-3, 20:3 n-3, 20:4 n-3, 20:5 n-3, 22:5 n-3, 22:6 n-3); PUFA n-6 (18:3 n-6, 20:2 n-6, 20:3 n-6, 20:4 n-6, 22:2 n-6, 22:4 n-6); SCFA: short chain fatty acid (C8-C10); SEM: standard error of mean; SFA: saturated fatty acids (10:0, 12:0, 14:0, 15:0, 16:0, 17:0, 18:0, 22:0, 24:0, odd-branched fatty acids); TFA: trans fatty acids (16:1 t-6, t-7, 16:1 t-8, 16:1 t-9, 16:1 t-10, 18:1 t-4, 18:1 t-6, t-8, 18:1 t-9, 18:1 t-10, 18:1 t-11, 18:2 trans,trans + cis/trans, 18:2 t-8, c-13); TI: thrombogenic index.

^{a, b}Mean values in the same row with different letters differ at p ≤ .05 (Tukey’s test).

Figure 1. Correlation between 18:2 c-9,t-11 (CLA) and 18:1 t-11 in Femoral biceps muscle of Sarda suckling lambs reared in different months (from December to April) in Sardinia (Italy).

Table 4. Content of fatty acid groups and nutritionally important fatty acids (mg/100 g of meat) in Femoral biceps muscle of Sarda suckling-lambs in different slaughter months.

	Slaughter months					SEM	p Value
Item	December	January	February	March	April
n.	5	5	5	5	5
SFA	456.06	590.10	616.29	383.97	385.68	34.12	.070
MUFA	480.05^ab	689.78^a	527.80^ab	368.27^b	380.42^b	37.33	.028
PUFA	268.71	282.80	290.72	259.33	244.86	6.71	.860
PUFA n-3	57.08^b	74.90^ab	95.53^a	56.93^b	53.45^b	4.00	.005
PUFA n-6	169.31	141.65	145.83	160.09	148.37	6.15	.241
OBCFA	271.90^ab	332.50^ab	371.95^a	217.69^b	217.14^b	20.00	.031
18:1 t-11	14.66^b	35.13^a	18.40^b	21.28^ab	22.88^ab	2.23	.036
18:2 n-6	111.37	89.94	97.80	105.49	98.07	4.14	.190
18:3 n-3	17.25^b	25.16^ab	34.55^a	20.94^b	19.78^b	1.73	.023
18:2 c-9, t-11 (CLA)	11.80	21.20	13.22	12.58	12.88	1.11	.055
20:4 n-6	46.69	39.61	36.30	43.26	39.84	2.22	.441
EPA	11.96^b	15.19^b	22.51^a	11.19^b	10.36^b	1.13	.004
DPA	15.70^bc	19.32^ab	22.38^a	15.05^c	14.34^c	0.74	.007
DHA	10.79^ab	13.26^a	13.56^a	8.27^b	7.62^b	0.70	.035
n-6/n-3	3.20	2.01	1.53	2.94	2.93	0.22	.056

CLA: conjugated linoleic acid isomer; DHA: docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n-3); DPA: docosapentaenoic acid (22:5 n-3); EPA: eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n-3); MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids (14:1, Σ16:1, Σ17:1, Σ18:1); n.: number of samples; OBCFA: odd- and branched-chain fatty acids (13:0, 13:0 iso, 13:0 anteiso, 14:0 iso, 15:0 iso, 15:0 anteiso, 16:0 iso, 17:0, 17:0 iso, 17:0 anteiso, Σ17:1); PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids (total n-6, total n-3); PUFA n-3 (18:3 n-3, 18:4 n-3, 20:3 n-3, 20:4 n-3, 20:5 n-3, 22:5 n-3, 22:6 n-3); PUFA n-6 (18:3 n-6, 20:2 n-6, 20:3 n-6, 20:4 n-6, 22:2 n-6, 22:4 n-6); SEM: standard error of the mean; SFA: saturated fatty acids (10:0, 12:0, 14:0, 15:0, 16:0, 17:0, 18:0, 22:0, 24:0, odd-branched fatty acids).

^a–cMean values in the same row with different letters differ at p ≤ .05 (Tukey’s test).