Efecto del sexo, destete, tipo de pienso de acabado y edad de sacrificio sobre la calidad de la canal y carne en corderos ligeros tipo ternasco

The effects of the sex, the weaning, the feeding at the fattening period, and the slaughter age, on carcass and meat quality have been assessed using 80 single lambs. The carcass quality was mainly affected by the slaughter age being the type of concentrate the less important effect. Animals slaughtered at 100 days old had better conformation than those at 70 days old having higher slaughter weight and higher rate of compactness (P less or equal to 0.001). Sex differences were not significant in the carcass fatness, although males showed the highest conformation (P less or equal to 0.01). Unweaned animals showed higher carcass weight and better morphology than those who were weaned. The chemical composition was mainly affected by weaning, since weaning at 40 days old increased moisture content and decreased ashes percentage (P P less or equal to 0.05) and by the age, because slaughtering at 100 days old increased the intramuscular fat percentage (P P less or equal to 0.01). The meat of young animals was lighter and of female was darker (P P less or equal to 0.01). The fatty acid composition in the intramuscular fat was especially affected by the age and the weaning Increasing the age led to an increment in the percentage of MUFA and decreasing the PUFA (P P less or equal to 0.001). Younger and weaned animals showed nutritional indexes most desirable from the diet on human health. The feed was the only effect that influenced the organoleptic quality of the meat. It can be concluded that the differences due to sex in the light lambs ‘ternasco’ do not have special relevance. Nevertheless the age is the effect that provokes greater variations. It could be recommended to slaughter younger animals performing the practice of weaning with a short fattening period that improves the intramuscular lipid profile. It is also important to control the lipid composition of the concentrate because it affects the organoleptic characteristics of the meat.