Review: Factors affecting sheep carcass and meat quality attributes
- PMID: 34400114
- DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2021.100330
Review: Factors affecting sheep carcass and meat quality attributes
Abstract
Sheep meat comes from a wide variety of farming systems utilising outdoor extensive to indoor intensive with animals of various ages at slaughter. In Europe, slaughter may occur from 4 weeks of age in suckling light lambs to adult ages. More than any other animal species used for meat production, there are strong country-specific preferences for sheep meat quality linked to production system characteristics such as dairy or grassland-based systems. This article critically reviews the current state of knowledge on factors affecting sheep carcass and meat quality. Quality has been broken down into six core attributes: commercial, organoleptic, nutritional, technological, safety and image, the latter covering aspects of ethics, culture and environment associated with the way the meat is produced and its origin, which are particularly valued in the many quality labels in Europe. The quality of meat is built but can also deteriorate along the continuum from the conception of the animal to the consumer. Our review pinpoints critical periods, such as the gestation and the preslaughter and slaughter periods, and key factors, such as the animal diet, via its direct effect on the fatty acid profile, the antioxidant and volatile content, and indirect effects mediated via the age of the animal. It also pinpoints methodological difficulties in predicting organoleptic attributes, particularly odour and flavour. Potential antagonisms between different dimensions of quality are highlighted. For example, pasture-feeding has positive effects on the image and nutritional attributes (through its effect on the fatty acid profile of meat lipids), but it increases the risk of off-odours and off-flavours for sensitive consumersand the variability in meat quality linked to variability of animal age at slaughter. The orientation towards more agro-ecological, low-input farming systems may therefore present benefits for the image and nutritional properties of the meat, but also risks for the commercial (insufficient carcass fatness, feed deficiencies at key periods of the production cycle, irregularity in supply), organoleptic (stronger flavour and darker colour of the meat) and variability of sheep carcass and meat quality. Furthermore, the genetic selection for lean meat yield has been effective in producing carcasses that yield more meat, but at a penalty to the intramuscular fat content and eating quality of the meat, and making it more difficult to finish lambs on grass. Various tools to assess and predict quality are in development to better consider the various dimensions of quality in consumer information, payment to farmers and genetic selection.
Keywords: Animal characteristics; Fat; Muscle; On-farm factors; Pasture-feeding.
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Similar articles
-
Review: Production factors affecting poultry carcass and meat quality attributes.Animal. 2022 Feb;16 Suppl 1:100331. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2021.100331. Epub 2021 Aug 19. Animal. 2022. PMID: 34419417 Review.
-
Review: On-farm and processing factors affecting bovine carcass and meat quality.Animal. 2022 Feb;16 Suppl 1:100426. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2021.100426. Epub 2022 Jan 12. Animal. 2022. PMID: 35031228 Review.
-
Review: Pork quality attributes from farm to fork. Part I. Carcass and fresh meat.Animal. 2022 Feb;16 Suppl 1:100402. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2021.100402. Epub 2021 Nov 23. Animal. 2022. PMID: 34836808 Review.
-
The effects of diet, slaughter weight and docking on growth, carcass composition and meat quality of fat-tailed Barbarine lambs. A review.Trop Anim Health Prod. 2011 Oct;43(7):1371-8. doi: 10.1007/s11250-011-9865-6. Epub 2011 Apr 21. Trop Anim Health Prod. 2011. PMID: 21509453 Review.
-
Review: Quality of animal-source foods.Animal. 2022 Feb;16 Suppl 1:100376. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2021.100376. Epub 2021 Nov 23. Animal. 2022. PMID: 34836809 Review.
Cited by
-
Enhancement of culled ewes' meat quality: Effects of aging method and time.Food Chem X. 2024 Jul 23;23:101687. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101687. eCollection 2024 Oct 30. Food Chem X. 2024. PMID: 39170069 Free PMC article.
-
Integration of selective sweeps across the sheep genome: understanding the relationship between production and adaptation traits.Genet Sel Evol. 2024 May 21;56(1):40. doi: 10.1186/s12711-024-00910-w. Genet Sel Evol. 2024. PMID: 38773423 Free PMC article.
-
Effects of refused melon fruit in Canarana grass ensilage on intake, digestibility, serum biochemistry, performance, carcass characteristics and meat attributes of feedlot lambs.Trop Anim Health Prod. 2024 May 8;56(4):153. doi: 10.1007/s11250-024-03988-y. Trop Anim Health Prod. 2024. PMID: 38717731
-
CircRNA-5335 Regulates the Differentiation and Proliferation of Sheep Preadipocyte via the miR-125a-3p/STAT3 Pathway.Vet Sci. 2024 Feb 4;11(2):70. doi: 10.3390/vetsci11020070. Vet Sci. 2024. PMID: 38393088 Free PMC article.
-
Characterisation of Dry-Salted Violino and Bresaola from Grass-Fed Bergamasca Sheep.Animals (Basel). 2024 Feb 1;14(3):488. doi: 10.3390/ani14030488. Animals (Basel). 2024. PMID: 38338130 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources