Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fatty acid profile and carcass characteristics in castrated and uncastrated hair lambs

  • Regular Articles
  • Published:
Tropical Animal Health and Production Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of castration on carcass characteristics and fatty acid profile of visceral fat and meat from lambs. Eighteen six-month-old Santa Inês male lambs (18.9 ± 2.4 kg of body weight (BW)) were used. Animals were assigned to two treatments according to their sexual condition: uncastrated (U) or castrated (C). During a 98-day experimental period, animals were kept on an Andropogon gayanus grass pasture area of 1 ha and supplemented with 200 g/animal/day of concentrate mixture. Water and mineral salt were available ad libitum. The lambs were weighed fortnightly, and at the last day of the trial, they were slaughtered for evaluation of carcass characteristics and fatty acids profile of perirenal fat and longissimus lumborum muscle samples. Castrated lambs showed higher BW than U during most part of the experiment (p < 0.05). Fat deposition was higher in C lambs as evidenced by their increased carcass fat cover. Meat from U lambs showed lower content of C16:0 and higher polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (p < 0.05) than that from C (U, 14.3 and C, 10.5%). Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content was not affected by castration (p > 0.05) (U, 0.74 and C, 0.76%). The cis-9, cis-12 C18:2n-6 (U, 10.6 and C, 6.86%) fatty acid and the PUFA:SFA (saturated fatty acids) ratio (U, 0.36 and C, 0.25) were higher in the muscle of U lambs (p < 0.05), indicating that the meat from U animals may provide more benefits to human health than that of C.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Almeida, P.J.P., Pereira, M.L.A., Silva, F.F., Santos, A.B., Pereira, T.C.J., Santos, E.J., Moreira, J.V., 2012. Santa Inês sheep supplementation on urochloa grass pasture during the dry season: intake, nutrient digestibility and performance. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, 41, 668–674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrade, A.K.G., Soares, A.T., Freitas, F.F., Silva, S.V., Peña-Alfaro, C.E., Batista, A.M., Guerra, M.M.P., 2014. Testicular and epididymal ultrasonography in Santa Inês lambs raised in Brazil. Animal Reproduction, 11, 110–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • AOAC, 2011. Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International. (Horwitz, W. & G. W. Latimer Jr., Eds.) 18th ed. (Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Gaithersburg, MD).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bessa, R.J.B., Alves, S.P., Santos-Silva, J., 2015. Constraints and potentials for the nutritional modulation of the fatty acid composition of ruminant meat. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology, 117, 1325–1344.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blanco, M., Casasús, I., Ripoll, G., Albertí, P., Panea, B., Joy, M., 2017. Is meat quality of forage-fed steers comparable to the meat quality of conventional beef from concentrate-fed bulls? Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 97, 4943–4952.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, R.G., Ribeiro, N.L., Almeida, M.D.A., Cruz, G.R.B., Sousa, S., Madruga, M.S., Queiroga, R.C.R.E., 2017. Characterization of the lipid profile of internal fat deposits of sheep in the semiarid region of Brazil. Small Ruminant Research, 149, 214–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Smet, S., Raes, K., Demeyer, D., 2004. Meat fatty acid composition as affected by fatness and genetic factors: a review. Animal Research, 53, 81–98.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fahmy, M.H., 1997. Carcass composition in Romanov and crossbred male lambs from 10 to 34 weeks of age and its association with testosterone concentration. Small Ruminant Research, 26, 267–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallo, S.B., Merlin, A.F., Macedo, C.M., Silveira, R.D.O., 2014. Whole grain diet for Feedlot Lambs. Small Ruminant Research, 120, 185–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, J.K., Fellner, V., Dugan, M.E., Sauer, F.D., Mossoba, M.M., Yurawecz, M.P., 1997. Evaluating acid and base catalysts in the methylation of milk and rumen fatty acids with special emphasis on conjugated dienes and total trans fatty acids. Lipids, 32, 1219–1228.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landim, A.V., Cardoso, M.T.M., Castanheira, M., Fioravanti, M.C.S., Louvandini, H., McManus, C., 2011. Fatty acid profile of hair lambs and their crossbreds slaughtered at different weights. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 43, 1561–1566.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luz, J.B., Alves, K.S., Mezzomo, R., Santos Neta, E.R., Gomes, D.I., Sampaio Oliveira, L.R., Silva, J.C., Carvalho, F.F.R., 2017. Carcass characteristics and meat quality of lambs fed babassu cake (Orbignya speciosa) as a replacement for elephant grass silage. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 49, 113–119.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazon, M.R., Carvalho, R.F., Pesce, D.M.C., Silva, S.L., Gallo, S.B., Leme, P.R., 2017. Time on feedlot and sexual effects on animal performance and characteristics of lamb’s meat. Acta Scientiarum, 39,103–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mertens, D.R., 2002. Gravimetric determination of amylase-treated neutral detergent fiber in feeds with refluxing in beakers or crucibles: Collaborative study. Journal of AOAC International 85, 1217–1240.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Milicevic, D., Vranic, D., Masic, Z., Parunovic, N., Trbovic, D., Nedeljkovic-Trailovic, J., Petrovic, Z., 2014. The role of total fats, saturated/unsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol content in chicken meat as cardiovascular risk factors. Lipids in Health and Disease, 13, 1–12.

  • Moallem, U., 2018. Roles of dietary n-3 fatty acids in performance, milk fat composition, and reproductive and immune systems in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 101, 1–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • NRC, 2007. Nutrient requirements of small ruminants: Sheep, goats, cervids, and new world camelids, (National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington).

  • Okeudo, N.J., Moss, B.W., 2007. Intramuscular lipid and fatty acid profile of sheep comprising four sex-types and seven slaughter weights produced following commercial procedure. Meat Science, 76, 195–200.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paim, T.P., Viana, P.G., Brandão, E., Amador, S., Barbosa, T., Cardoso, C., Dantas, A.M.M., Souza, J.R., McManus, C., Abdalla, A.L., Louvandini, H., 2014. Carcass traits and fatty acid profile of meat from lambs fed different cottonseed by-products. Small Ruminant Research, 116, 71–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira, E.S., Lima, F.W.R., Marcondes, M.I., Rodrigues, J.P.P., Campos, A.C.N., Silva, L.P., Bezerra, L.R., Pereira, M.W.F., Oliveira, R.L., 2017. Energy and protein requirements of Santa Ines lambs, a breed of hair sheep. Animal, 11, 2165–2174.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ribeiro, M.N., Costa, R.G., Ribeiro, N.L., Almeida, M.D.A., Cruz, G.R.B., Beltrão Filho, E.S., 2016. Principal components analysis of the lipid profile of fat deposits in Santa Inês sheep. Small Ruminant Research, 114, 100–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santos, V.R.V., McManus, C., Peripolli, V., Tanure, C.B., Lima, P.M.T., Corrêa, P.S., Brito, D.L., Torres, S.E.F.A., Louvandini, H., 2017. Dry matter intake, performance and carcass characteristics of hair sheep reared under different grazing systems. Scientia Agricola, 74, 436–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seixas, L., Melo, C.B., Menezes, A.M., Ramos, A.F., Paludo, G.R., Peripolli, V., Tanure, C.B., Costa Junior, J.B.G., McManus, C., 2017. Study on environmental indices and heat tolerance tests in hair sheep. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 49, 975–982.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shingfield, K.J., Bonnet, M., Scollan, N.D., 2013. Recent developments in altering the fatty acid composition of ruminant-derived foods. Animal, 7, 132–162.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Souza, D.A., Selaive-Villarroel, A.B., Pereira, E.S., Silva, E.M.C., Oliveira, R.L., 2016. Effect of the Dorper breed on the performance, carcass and meat traits of lambs bred from Santa Inês sheep. Small Ruminant Research, 145, 76–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ulbricht, T.L.V., Southgate, D.A.T., 1991. Coronary heart disease: Seven dietary factors. Lancet, 338, 985–992.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Soest, P.J., Robertson, J.B., Lewis, B.A., 1991. Methods for dietary fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and nonstarch polysaccharides in relation to animal nutrition. Journal of Dairy Science, 74, 3583–3597.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J.D., Enser, M., Fisher, A.V., Nute, G.R., Sheard, P.R., Richardson, R.I., Hughes, S.I., Whittington, F.M., 2008. Fat deposition, fatty acid composition and meat quality: A review. Meat Science, 78, 343–358.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work received financial support from the Foundation for Scientific and Technological Enterprises - FINATEC and scholarships from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade de São Paulo, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Av. Centenário 303, Piracicaba, São Paulo, 13400-970, Brazil

    Paulo de Mello Tavares Lima, Patrícia Spoto Corrêa, Adibe Luiz Abdalla & Helder Louvandini

  2. Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Agronomia e Medicina, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil

    Carla Vanessa da Silva Alcantara Moraes Sousa

  3. Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Goiás Campus Iporá, Goiás, Brazil

    Tiago do Prado Paim

  4. Universidade de São Paulo, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil

    Dante Pazzanese Duarte Lanna

  5. Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil

    Concepta McManus

Authors
  1. Paulo de Mello Tavares Lima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carla Vanessa da Silva Alcantara Moraes Sousa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tiago do Prado Paim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Patrícia Spoto Corrêa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dante Pazzanese Duarte Lanna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Concepta McManus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Adibe Luiz Abdalla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Helder Louvandini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paulo de Mello Tavares Lima.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

This experiment has been conducted in accordance with the Brazilian laws of ethics in animal experimentation.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

de Mello Tavares Lima, P., da Silva Alcantara Moraes Sousa, C., do Prado Paim, T. et al. Fatty acid profile and carcass characteristics in castrated and uncastrated hair lambs. Trop Anim Health Prod 51, 775–780 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-018-1752-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-018-1752-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation