The influence of sex and finishing system on carcass and meat quality of Texel x Corriedale lambs

In this work we aimed to evaluate the effect of sex and finishing systems on individual characteristics of carcass, instrumental and chemical meat measurements of Texel x Corriedalle lambs. Ninety animals were used; 45 non-castrated rams and 45 females. Lambs were kept on pasture with mother to weaning (70 days) and assigned to one of three production systems: pasture, pasture with mother, and on pasture receiving a soy peel supplement at 1% of live weight basis. After slaughtering, carcasses were stored under vacuum in a freezer at 1 degrees C for pH, marbling, fat condition, color and texture measurements. The longissimus dorsi muscle was separated from the half carcass to proceed instrumental and chemical analysis. Analysis of variance and Tukey test were used for comparison of the mean at 5% significance. There was no interaction for sex and finishing system on carcass characteristics. Similarly, there was no interaction between sex and termination system as related to instrumental measurements and meat chemical composition. Conversely, the isolated factors affected significantly the shearing force, moisture and fat content. Rams meat and the meat of the lambs kept on pasture with mother presented better resistance to shearing force and moisture, but less fat content.