Certain meat quality characteristics of Awassi and Turkish Merino x Awassi (F-1) lambs

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the meat quality characteristics of 2-way crossbred lambs that were obtained by mating Turkish Merino (Karacabey Merino) as a sire line with Awassi ewes, as compared to those of purebred Awassi lambs. In all, 8 male and 8 female single born lambs from each genotype (forming 4 groups and 32 lambs) were investigated. In Awassi purebred and Turkish Merino x Awassi (F-1) crossbred lambs mean pH values at 24 h were 5.84 and 5.80, drip losses were 2.35% and 2.69%, cooking losses were 31.41% and 30.94%, Warner-Bratzler shear force values were 3.42 kg and 2.63 kg, P: S ratios were 0.14 and 0.16, and (n-6/ n-3) ratios were 3.70 and 4.66, respectively. The results of the present study show that meat of Turkish Merino x Awassi (F-1) lambs was more tender but less healthy than that of Awassi lambs, although the differences were probably not important enough to be significant at the market level.