Nutritional Quality of Meat from Barren Merino Ewes in Comparison to Meat from Traditional Lambs

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Barren ewes represent approximately 2% of the census of the herd, which constitutes a major loss in revenue for the farmer. It would, therefore, be an interesting market strategy to revalue the meat of these barren ewes. We studied the nutritional quality of barren ewes’ meat in comparison to traditional lambs’ meat by studying 10 barren ewes, 10 male lambs, and 10 female lambs from the Merino breed. There was no effect of animal type (males, females, and ewes) on pH, and differences in subcutaneous fat color, lipid oxidation, and texture were irrelevant from a practical point of view. The tissue composition, in the three groups of animals, reflected a high percentage of saleable meat, with no penalty for intensive fattening in any of the groups. The ewes’ meat presented a higher percentage of moisture, collagen, ash, calcium, iron, α-tocopherol, and retinol than the lambs’ meat. In addition, it had a higher content of DHA and CLA and lower values for the ratio n6/n3, which is beneficial for health, although it also contained more fat, saturated fatty acids, and cholesterol than lambs’ meat. Ewes’ meat therefore has a good nutritional composition and can be considered an attractive product for consumers. ABSTRACT: In Spain, lamb consumption has decreased over the last few years. To increase farmers’ income, we studied the nutritional quality of the barren ewes’ meat in comparison to traditional lambs’ meat with 10 barren ewes, 10 male lambs, and 10 female lambs from the Merino breed. We measured the subcutaneous fat, muscle color, and carcass tissue composition, as well as proximal composition, mineral, tocopherol, retinol, lutein, and cholesterol contents, and the TPA texture profile, fatty acid profile, and lipid oxidation of the meat. There was no effect of the animal type (males, females, and ewes) on the pH, and the differences in the subcutaneous fat color, lipid oxidation, and texture were irrelevant from a practical point of view. The tissue composition in the three groups of animals reflected a high percentage of saleable meat, with no penalty incurred for intensive fattening in any of the groups. The ewes’ meat presented a higher percentage of moisture, collagen, ash, calcium, iron, α-tocopherol, and retinol than the lambs’ meat. In addition, it had higher content of DHA and CLA and lower values for the ratio n6/n3, which is beneficial for health, although it also contained more fat, saturated fatty acids, and cholesterol than the lambs’ meat.