Effect of dietary protein level and lamb breed on meat physicochemical traits, fatty acid profile and nutritional indices

<p>Special attention is increasingly given to food characteristics, particularly fatty acid (FA) profile. The quality of meat, as food of animal origin, depends on animal genotype and feeding. This study evaluated the meat quality and FA profile of three Tunisian sheep breeds, i.e. Barbarine (...

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Main Authors: H. Hajji, S. Smeti, I. Mekki, N. Atti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2025-01-01
Series:Archives Animal Breeding
Online Access:https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/68/57/2025/aab-68-57-2025.pdf
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author H. Hajji
S. Smeti
I. Mekki
N. Atti
author_facet H. Hajji
S. Smeti
I. Mekki
N. Atti
author_sort H. Hajji
collection DOAJ
description <p>Special attention is increasingly given to food characteristics, particularly fatty acid (FA) profile. The quality of meat, as food of animal origin, depends on animal genotype and feeding. This study evaluated the meat quality and FA profile of three Tunisian sheep breeds, i.e. Barbarine (BB), Queue Fine de l'Ouest (QFO) and Noire de Thibar (NT), under diets with low (11 %) or high (16 %) crude protein (CP) levels, aiming to optimize feeding strategies for Tunisian sheep production. Lambs were slaughtered at 51 kg body weight. The longissimus-thoracis et lumborum muscle was extracted for meat quality analysis.</p> <p>The intramuscular fat was higher for QFO than other breeds. The meat FA profile was not affected by CP level but was affected by sheep breed. The C16:0 FA was higher for QFO than the two other breeds, which had higher C18:0 FA (17.7 vs. 14.6 %). The <span class="inline-formula"><i>n</i>−3</span> and <span class="inline-formula"><i>n</i>−6</span> polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) contents were higher (<span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i><i>&lt;</i>0.001</span>) for meat of fat-tailed BB than other breeds, resulting in a higher total PUFA and higher PUFA <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mo>/</mo></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="8pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="57ee8123d9c9aefcf23d9c7f6463c158"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="aab-68-57-2025-ie00001.svg" width="8pt" height="14pt" src="aab-68-57-2025-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> SFA ratio (0.135 vs. 0.09, where SFA represents saturated fatty acid). The atherogenic index (AI) and cholesterolemic index (<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi>h</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>H</mi></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="22pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="125cf76f8183f007c0fdec873a2feb4f"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="aab-68-57-2025-ie00002.svg" width="22pt" height="14pt" src="aab-68-57-2025-ie00002.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>) of the meat were in the recommended ranges, being in favour of BB and NT breeds with, respectively, lower and higher values than QFO. However, the thrombogenic index (TI) was high and similar among breeds. In conclusion, the FA profile and lipid indices in sheep meat were primarily influenced by breed, with no significant effect from crude protein level, suggesting that a low-protein diet can yield comparable meat quality to a high-protein diet.</p>
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spelling doaj-art-c78f7847a348489f95b567131f1c828c2025-01-30T12:34:34ZengCopernicus PublicationsArchives Animal Breeding0003-94382363-98222025-01-0168576610.5194/aab-68-57-2025Effect of dietary protein level and lamb breed on meat physicochemical traits, fatty acid profile and nutritional indicesH. Hajji0S. Smeti1I. Mekki2N. Atti3University of Gabès, Livestock and Wildlife Laboratory, Arid Regions Institute (IRA), 4119 Medenine, TunisiaUniversity of Carthage, National Institute of Agronomic Research of Tunisia, Animal and Forage Productions Laboratory, Rue Hédi Karray, 2049 Ariana, TunisiaUniversity of Carthage, National Institute of Agronomic Research of Tunisia, Animal and Forage Productions Laboratory, Rue Hédi Karray, 2049 Ariana, TunisiaUniversity of Carthage, National Institute of Agronomic Research of Tunisia, Animal and Forage Productions Laboratory, Rue Hédi Karray, 2049 Ariana, Tunisia<p>Special attention is increasingly given to food characteristics, particularly fatty acid (FA) profile. The quality of meat, as food of animal origin, depends on animal genotype and feeding. This study evaluated the meat quality and FA profile of three Tunisian sheep breeds, i.e. Barbarine (BB), Queue Fine de l'Ouest (QFO) and Noire de Thibar (NT), under diets with low (11 %) or high (16 %) crude protein (CP) levels, aiming to optimize feeding strategies for Tunisian sheep production. Lambs were slaughtered at 51 kg body weight. The longissimus-thoracis et lumborum muscle was extracted for meat quality analysis.</p> <p>The intramuscular fat was higher for QFO than other breeds. The meat FA profile was not affected by CP level but was affected by sheep breed. The C16:0 FA was higher for QFO than the two other breeds, which had higher C18:0 FA (17.7 vs. 14.6 %). The <span class="inline-formula"><i>n</i>−3</span> and <span class="inline-formula"><i>n</i>−6</span> polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) contents were higher (<span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i><i>&lt;</i>0.001</span>) for meat of fat-tailed BB than other breeds, resulting in a higher total PUFA and higher PUFA <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mo>/</mo></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="8pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="57ee8123d9c9aefcf23d9c7f6463c158"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="aab-68-57-2025-ie00001.svg" width="8pt" height="14pt" src="aab-68-57-2025-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> SFA ratio (0.135 vs. 0.09, where SFA represents saturated fatty acid). The atherogenic index (AI) and cholesterolemic index (<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi>h</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>H</mi></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="22pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="125cf76f8183f007c0fdec873a2feb4f"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="aab-68-57-2025-ie00002.svg" width="22pt" height="14pt" src="aab-68-57-2025-ie00002.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>) of the meat were in the recommended ranges, being in favour of BB and NT breeds with, respectively, lower and higher values than QFO. However, the thrombogenic index (TI) was high and similar among breeds. In conclusion, the FA profile and lipid indices in sheep meat were primarily influenced by breed, with no significant effect from crude protein level, suggesting that a low-protein diet can yield comparable meat quality to a high-protein diet.</p>https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/68/57/2025/aab-68-57-2025.pdf
spellingShingle H. Hajji
S. Smeti
I. Mekki
N. Atti
Effect of dietary protein level and lamb breed on meat physicochemical traits, fatty acid profile and nutritional indices
Archives Animal Breeding
title Effect of dietary protein level and lamb breed on meat physicochemical traits, fatty acid profile and nutritional indices
title_full Effect of dietary protein level and lamb breed on meat physicochemical traits, fatty acid profile and nutritional indices
title_fullStr Effect of dietary protein level and lamb breed on meat physicochemical traits, fatty acid profile and nutritional indices
title_full_unstemmed Effect of dietary protein level and lamb breed on meat physicochemical traits, fatty acid profile and nutritional indices
title_short Effect of dietary protein level and lamb breed on meat physicochemical traits, fatty acid profile and nutritional indices
title_sort effect of dietary protein level and lamb breed on meat physicochemical traits fatty acid profile and nutritional indices
url https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/68/57/2025/aab-68-57-2025.pdf
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AT imekki effectofdietaryproteinlevelandlambbreedonmeatphysicochemicaltraitsfattyacidprofileandnutritionalindices
AT natti effectofdietaryproteinlevelandlambbreedonmeatphysicochemicaltraitsfattyacidprofileandnutritionalindices