Effect of Breed of Sire on Carcass Traits and Meat Quality of Katahdin Lambs

Crossbred lambs (n = 40) of 137 ± 3 days of age from Katahdin ewes with either Charollais (KCh), Dorper (KD), Suffolk (KS) and Texel (KT) sires were used in this study. The effect of sire breeds on carcass traits, chemical composition of muscle, meat quality and consumer acceptability was determined. Regarding carcass traits, KCh animals had the highest fat thickness. KT lambs had the smallest M. Longissimusdorsi (MLD) area compared tothat of KCh, KD and KS (17.0, 15.9, 15.5 and 13.9 cm2; respectively). Breed of sire had no effect (P>0.05) on the chemical composition, pH or Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) of lamb; however, it did affect meat color. KS lambs had lower L*, a*, b* and Ch* values compared to the other crossbreeds (PP>0.05) across genotypes.