Comparison of the meat and carcass characteristics of the Karakul, Damara and Dorper
1996
Von Seydlitz, H.H.B. (Agricultural Laboratory, Windhoek (Namibia))
In a trial conducted at Gellap-Ost Experimental Farm in southern Namibia 100 Damara, 100 Dorper and 100 Karakul lambs were matched with regard to AGD, fat thickness, rib-eye area, meat:bone ratio, total moisture, expressible moisture, cooking loss and shear force. Half the lambs' tails were docked. Breed, sex and tail were the three variants investigated statistically and results corrected for slaughter age (co-variant). It was found that meat quality can only be assessed by combining laboratory results with the findings of an evaluation panel. However, the following conclusions were made, based on laboratory results only: Karakul sheep have the juiciest meat and the Damara the toughest and driest meat. The carcass of the Dorper is larger and leaner than the two other breeds and it also produces more meat. It has some advantages to dock sheep with regard to fat distribution and carcass composition. Most differences between the breeds were found to be very small and might not always be detectable, but they are significant because of the large numbers used. The variance within breeds was in all instances, higher than between breeds
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