Fatty acid composition and eating quality of lamb types derived from four diverse breed x production systems

Carcass composition, muscle fatty acids and eating quality of loin chops we re examined in ram lambs from four diverse breed x production system groups : pure Welsh Mountain off upland flora, pure Soays off lowland grass, Suffo lk crosses off lowland grass and Suffolk crosses off concentrates. The two Suffolk groups had heavier and better muscled carcasses than the others and Soays were particularly lean. Fatty acid composition was different between the groups. The forage-fed lambs all had high concentrations of n-3 polyun saturated fatty acids (PUFA) including 18:3 (alpha-linolenic acid) and 20:5 (eicosapentaenoic acid) compared with Suffolks-concentrates which had high concentrations of the n-6 PUFA 18:2 (linoleic acid) and 20:4 (arachidonic acid). Soays were high in both n-3 and n-6 PUFA. Flavour characteristics in grilled chops were similar in Welsh Mountain and Suffolks-grass which diff ered from Soays and Suffolks-concentrates. The latter two groups had low sc ores for lamb flavour and overall liking and high scores for abnormal lamb flavour, metallic, bitter, stale, and rancid. Soays had the highest score f or livery. These results extend previous findings of the association betwee n feed, PUFA composition and lamb flavour profile and confirm that forage-f ed lamb is preferred by UK taste panellists. They also identify a specific breed effect on the quality of meat from lambs raised on forage. These find ings suggest that possibilities exist for the production of meat with speci fic quality characteristics. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. Al l rights reserved.