At slaughtering and post mortem characteristics on Traditional market ewes and Halal market ewes in Tuscany

BACKGROUND The aim of this work was the comparison between the carcass and the meat ewes of the regional Traditional market and the Islamic religious (Halal) market. METHODS Thirty and 20 at the end of career traditional market and Halal market ewes were slaughtered following the EC (European Council, 2009) animal welfare guidelines. Live weight of ewes was taken and dressing percentage of carcasses was calculated. On every carcass zoometric measurement and the evaluation trough the EU grid rules were performed. On the Musculus longissimus thoracis of 12 Traditional market carcasses and 11 Halal market carcasses the physical-chemical and nutritional analysis were performed. Consumer tests for liking meat ewe were performed in order to find consumer's preference level for Traditional and Halal markets ewe meat. Considering as fixed factor the ewe meat market (Traditional and Halal), results were submitted to oneway Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and to Principal Component Analysis (PCA). RESULTS The Halal market ewes have shown lower dressing percentages (42.91 ± 0.82 vs 46.42 ± 0.69) and lower conformation score (4.5 ± 0.5 vs 7.8 ± 0.4). The Halal market meat showed higher cooking loss in oven (37.83 ± 1.20 vs 32.03 ± 1.15 %), lesser Chroma value (18.63 ± 0.70 vs 21.84 ± 0.67), and lesser Hue angle value (0.26 ± 0.02 vs 0.34 ± 0.02). This product had also lower fat percentage (4.2 ± 0.4 vs 7.09 ± 0.4). The traditional market meat had higher percentage in monounsatured fatty acids (MUFA) (43.84 ± 1.05 vs 38.22 ± 1.10), while the Halal market meat had higher percentage in ω3 poliunsatured fatty acids (PUFA) (5.04 ± 0.42 vs 3.60 ± 0.40). The consumer test showed as the ewe meat was appreciate by the consumers. CONCLUSIONS Both meat typologies have shown good nutritional characteristics. The traditional market meat had higher MUFA composition, and a better MUFA/satured fatty acids (SFA) ratio, while the Halal market meat had higher PUFA composition. These results were also supported by the PCA. The consumers preferred the traditional market meat.