Slaughter traits, carcass measures and meat quality of Merinolandschaf lambs in Croatia

The aim of this study was to determine influence of sex on slaughter traits, carcass measures and pH value and muscle tissue colour as important indicators of lamb meat quality. For that purpose a total of 52 Merinolandschaf lambs (24 male and 28 female) at average age of about 100 days were slaughtered. The average lambs live weight at slaughter was 37.09 kg, considering that male lambs had statistically significant (P<0.05) higher live weight at slaughter than female (38.95 kg : 35.64 kg). Determined average carcass weight of 19.16 kg was almost equal in both sexes. Statistically significantly higher dressing percentage (P<0.001) was determined in female (53.57%) than in male (49.46%) lambs. The basic features of the investigated female and male Merinolandschaf lambs are: expressed measures of length, depth and width compared to most lambs of Croatian indigenous breeds. The uniformity of male and female lamb carcases was determined based on the investigated meat quality indicators (pH value and colour). Statistically significant differences were determined only for L* and a* value of colour parameter (M. semitendinosus) whose values were significantly higher in male lambs (P<0.001; P<0.01).