D.J. Jackson*, N.C. Whitley, V. Suvanich, and J.G. Schwarz

University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland

Suffolk-(SK), Texel-(TK), and Dorper-sired (DK) Katahdin lambs were used to determine effects of feeding regime and sire breed on the fatty acid (FA) composition and sensory characteristics (feeding regime only) of lamb meat. At weaning, 43 TK, SK and DK lambs were randomly removed from pasture and placed in a feedlot (GF),
while 125 TK, SK, and DK lambs remained on pasture (PF). At an average BCS of 2.8 (1-5 scale with 1=emaciated and 5=obese), 5 lambs/breed from both GF and PF were slaughtered. FA pro?les were obtained from a commercial laboratory using 100g longissimus dorsi samples. Untrained adult consumers (61; mixed ethnicity) were used to
determine any difference and preference in lamb patties prepared from GF and PF ground meat using a central location test. SFA, MUFA, PUFA, n-3, n-6 and n-6/n-3 fatty acids were infuenced by feeding regime (P < 0.05). PF lamb meat had increased (P < 0.001) n-3 fatty acids but lower (P < 0.001) n-6 fatty acids compared to GF meat. Subsequently, the n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio was lowest (P < 0.0001) in PF (1.45; 1-1.9 recommended by NIH) than in GF (8.75) meat. Although PF meat had a greater (P < 0.001) total SFA and lower (P < 0.0001) MUFA and PUFA content than GF meat, the ratio of UFA/SFA were similar between PF (0.6 ± 0.02) and GF (0.9 ± 0.02). Both UFA/SFA ratio and CLA content were in?uenced by a sire breed x feeding regime interaction (P < 0.05). Grain-fed DK meat had a lower (P < 0.05; 0.7 ± 0.02) UFA/SFA ratio than SK (0.8 ± 0.02) and TK meat (0.8 ± 0.02) and PF DK meat had an increased (P < 0.01) amount of CLA compared to both TK and SK meat. In the sensory test, consumers could not differentiate the overall eating quality of cooked lamb patties prepared from GF and PF meats. However, 58% of consumers preferred lamb patties prepared from PF meat. Overall, this study indicates that the meat from PF hair type lambs might be a healthier choice for consumers and supports the use of hair type lambs in a pasture-based production system.