Comparative Studies On The Slaughter Performance And Meat Quality Among Different Breeds Of Meat Sheep

In the present study, Bamei sheep (n=1000), Small-tail Han sheep (n=8000), Duba sheep (n=300) and Duhan sheep (n=100) that were under the same management condition and nutrient level were selected as candidates.Three healthy sheep were randomly selected from each of the four breeds, with similar body weight (about 50kg) and age (6-month-old). To Compare the property diversities among the mutton sheep of various breeds,the slaughter performance, meat quality traits, amino acid composition of each sheep from different breeds were systematically measured by means of physical and chemical inspection.. The results are as follows:1. Comparison of slaughter performance and body rules between various mutton sheep breedsSmall-tail Han sheep had the largest body size compared with the other 3 breeds (P<0.05), but the body height of Bamei sheep were the lowest and smaller than that of Duhan sheep and Small-tail Han sheep (P<0.05). Duba sheep had bigger loin eye area than the other breeds (P<0.01). The indexes (dressing percentage, carcass weight and slaughter weight) of both Duba and Duhan sheep were slightly higher than that of the other breeds(P>0.05). The GR value of Duhan sheep (P<0.05) was the highest but the small-tail han sheep (P<0.05) showed the lowest values.2. Comparison of meat quality traits between various mutton sheep breedsSmall-tail han sheep showed the highest initial pH values than that of the Duba sheep, Bamei sheep and Duhan sheep (P<0.01). No differences in The driage, drip loss and shear force were found (P>0.05). L* values of Bamei and Duba mutton sheep were significantly higher than that of Duhan and Small-tail han sheep(P<0.01). There showed great difference in cooking rate of the breeds.among which the Small-tail han sheep had the highest cooking rate and that of Duba sheep were the lowerest (P<0.05).3. Comparison of amino acid content between various mutton sheep breedsHybird sheep had slightly higher contents of essential amino-acid and total amino acid in longissimus dorsi muscle than the other breeds, but the differences were not significant(P>0.05).