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Asian Journal of Animal Sciences

Year: 2017 | Volume: 11 | Issue: 2 | Page No.: 88-95
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Authors

Nabila Berrighi

Louiza Belkacemi

Kaddour Bouderoua

Marina Santaella

Gaspar Ros

Gema Nieto

Keywords

Background and Objective: Interest in meat fatty acid composition stems mainly from the need to find ways to produce healthier meat, with a higher ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids and a more favorable balance between n-6 and n-3. The purpose through this study is to assess the effect of diet on fatty acids and colour characteristics of lamb meat. Materials and Methods: In this study two separate groups of Rembi breed was used either reared in a highland area and feeding on pasture supplemented with hay or reared in a steppe area and feeding on pasture supplemented with concentrate. The study was carried out from March to June, 2015. After slaughter, samples of the Biceps femoris were removed from each carcass and placed in ice in isothermal boxes to be transported to the laboratory. The dissected muscles were trimmed, minced in a meat grinder and stored at -20°C for further analysis. Results: The results showed more fat in the meat from the steppe group lambs than the highland one (3.80 vs 1.94%, respectively, p<0.05). The polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels were higher in meat issued from lambs reared in the steppe than those from the highland region. The n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and C18:3 n-3 levels were significantly higher in the tissue from the highland group, but there was no significant difference between the highland and the steppe lamb meat with regards to C18:2 n-6 levels. The C18:2 n-6/C18:3 n-3 and n-6/n-3 ratios could be considered ideal for human health in both groups: 6.55 and 8.04% for highland animals, respectively (p<0.001) and 10.50 and 12.68% for the steppe-bred animals (p<0.001), respectively. Overall, the feeding system played an important role in the colour of the resulting meat and the results point to significant differences in the amounts of colour parameters i.e., redness, luminosity and yellowness. Conclusion: Lamb meat produced on Algerian steppe and highland areas seems to have better sensoriel and nutritional quality, especially in term of fatty acids quality, which linked to the graze diversity and quality present in these lands. Based on these results and from a fattening perspective, grazing is declared to be an economically sustainable husbandry system.
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