Evaluation of physical, chemical and sensory parameters of lamb meat from different breeds.

In order to contribute to the development of Sao Paulo State lamb meat chain, the aim of this work consisted in investigating the quality of lamb meat from different breed types and live weight. The breeds employed in this study were Santa Ines and its cross-breeds with Texel and Dorper. The differences in the live weight were analyzed in pure Santa Ines animals, which were slaughtered at 35 and 45kg. Samples evaluated (longissimus dorsi muscle) were obtained from two different slaughterhouses in Sao Paulo state. Physical-chemical analysis including proximal composition (moisture, total ash, protein and lipids) and Warner-Bratzler shear force were carried out. Sensory analyses were performed by frequent lamb meat consumers, by means of a nine points hedonic scale. The results obtained for proximal composition showed differences (p 0.05) between the evaluated samples. The consumers didn’t detect differences (p>0.05) in the samples texture. For the other sensory attributes (odor, juiciness, fl avor and global quality) signifi cant differences were detected (p<0.05). In general, the loin meat from the Santa Ines breed slaughtered at 45kg live weight presented the best sensory evaluations, whereas the less accepted meat was that proceeding from the crossbreed Dorper / Santa Ines