Effect of age at slaughter on carcass characteristics and carcass composition in lambs of mountain Greek breeds
2006
Skapetas, B.(Technological Educational Inst. of Thessaloniki (Greece). Dept. of Animal Production) E-mail:[email protected] | Sinapis, E.(Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki (Greece). Dept. of Animal Production) | Hatziminaouglou, J.(Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki (Greece). Dept. of Animal Production) | Karalazos, A.(Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki (Greece). Dept. of Animal Production) | Katanos, J.(Technological Educational Inst. of Thessaloniki (Greece). Dept. of Animal Production)
Forty male lambs of the mountain Greek breed were slaughtered at the age of 30, 45, 60, 75 or 90 days to evaluate the effect of the age at slaughter on carcass characteristics and composition. The lambs of different age groups did not differ significantly in dressing percentage. The proportion of muscles increased non-significantly with increasing age at slaughter. The proportion of total fat in carcass increased significantly with increasing slaughter age from 20.84 to 23.59% for the age group of 30 and 90 days, respectively. On the contrary, the proportion of bones decreased significantly. Subcutaneous, intermuscular, perinephric and pelvic fats increased, but only the subcutaneous fat was influenced significantly. The cuts long leg, first 5 ribs and shoulder decreased, while the cuts last 8 ribs-loin and breast-flank increased significantly. Our results suggest that the slaughter age of lambs of the mountain Greek breed should be increased from the present 45 days to 75 or 90 days.
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