Valutazione delle caratteristiche chimico-fisiche della carne di agnello della Sardegna

In Sardinia island the local Sarda sheep support a breeding system oriented to the production of milk and of meat from suckling lamb slaughtered at light weight.The EU (Reg. CE N° 138/01) has granted the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) “Agnello di Sardegna” to this meat product.In this work, the results of a research aimed to assess some qualitative characteristics of Sarda suckling lambs are reported. The lambs were slaughtered at 30-40 days of age.In 1st experimental phase physico-chemical characteristics were determined on Psoas major (PS), Quadricipes femoris (QF) and Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscles. The muscle affected the chemical composition, particularly, highest fat content in PS were observed. The LD had better nutritional quality than the QF and, particularly, the PS, as a result of a higher PUFA content and PUFA/SFA ratio, that have a lower thrombogenic index. These characteristics were also associated with slightly lower amounts of intramuscular lipids and SFA. In the 2th experimental phase the PS muscle of 52 (31 female and 21 male slaughtered at 6,57±1,45 kg) Sarda suckling lambs, coming from 5 different Sardinia areas, submitted at official controls about the product specification, were analysed. The physico-chemical characteristics was different (P<0.05) in the samples coming from 5 areas.Meat from lambs with weight <7 kg showed a highest content of vitamin E, a lower amounts of cholesterol and a highest intramuscular content of CLA c9, t11 and palmitic acid.Meat from male lamb showed a tendential higher content of unsaturated fatty acids in particular stearic acid and CLA c9, t11.The feeding system and the origin area could affect the physico-chemical and dietetic value of Sarda lamb meat.