Influence of the Production System (Intensive vs. Extensive) at Farm Level on Proximate Composition and Volatile Compounds of Portuguese Lamb Meat

Abstract

Today’s society demands healthy meat with a special emphasis on integrated animal husbandry combined with the concern for animal welfare. In this sense, the raising of lambs in an extensive system has been one of the most common practices, which results in meats with high nutritional value. However, both the production system and the diet play a fundamental role in the chemical composition of the meat, which has a direct impact on the content of volatile compounds. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of two production systems (intensive and extensive) on the chemical composition and volatile profile of lamb meat. Twenty-eight lambs of the Bordaleira-de-Entre-Douro-e-Minho (BEDM) sheep breed were raised for meat production under the intensive or extensive system and were fed with concentrate and pasture, respectively. All animals were carried out in the muscle longissimus thoracis et lumborum. Results evidenced that all the composition parameters were affected by the production system. Extensively-reared lambs produced meat with the highest fat and protein contents, while these animals had the lowest percentages of moisture and ash. Similarly, the total content of volatile compounds was affected (p < 0.05) by the production system and were higher in the meat of lambs reared extensively. Furthermore, the content of total acids, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, ethers, furans and sulfur compounds as well as most of the individual compounds were also affected (p < 0.05) by the production system, whereas total hydrocarbons and ketones were not affected (p > 0.05). As a general conclusion, the production system had very high influence not only in proximate composition but also in the volatile compounds.

Fatty Acid Composition and Volatile Profile of longissimus thoracis et lumborum Muscle from Burguete and Jaca Navarra Foals Fattened with Different Finishing Diets

“…In this respect, the abundance of butyrolactone in the D1 group could be especially related to the higher contents in C18:2n-6 detected in D1 feeds (Table 1) and reflected also in the fatty acid profile of D1 foals (Table 2). Our data are consistent with those shown by other researchers [64], who reported a higher quantity of this ketone in animals finished with commercial concentrates. Therefore, according to the finishing diet, this family of volatile compounds did not contribute significantly to the total volatile compounds of our samples; in fact, it simply represented the seventh most abundant percentage.…”

“…As regards singular ethers, only two compounds (dimethyl ether and oxirane, tetramethyl-) showed significant differences among groups (p < 0.05), where D2 foals presented the lowest values. Our findings are consistent with those published by other authors [54,64], who found that meat from animals finished with concentrates generated higher ether amounts than those reared under an extensive system. However, also in this case, ethers occupied a low percentage of the total volatile compounds detected in both foal groups, occupying the sixth position of the ten families.…”

“…Furan, 2-pentyl-especially represented the most abundant furan identified in both diets, showing the lowest (p < 0.001) values in D2 foals. These outcomes are in line with those found in the literature [54,64,67]. Concretely, our results could be related to the greater α-tocopherol content of the grass diets (or mainly composed by silage as D2 treatment), since Vasta et al [60] observed a negative correlation between this antioxidant and the formation of furan, 2-pentyl-.…”

“…However, these studies showed greater total aldehyde content than ours. Lastly, it is worth highlighting that this class of compounds represents one of the main groups of volatile compounds owing to its low odor threshold, which can be critical for the aromatic profile of meat [ 64 ].…”

Improving the Sensory, Nutritional and Physicochemical Quality of Fresh Meat

“…The meat production chain has many stages, starting with the rearing of animals using different systems and diets with optimized composition to favor the animal development and the production of meat with characteristics that are aligned with consumer preferences [ 3 ]. Regarding the influence of the production system, Echegaray et al [ 4 ] evaluated the composition and volatile composition of lamb meat produced in an intensive or extensive system. Significant increases in intramuscular fat and protein content in longissimus thoracis et lumborum were obtained from animals reared in an extensive system in comparison to animals produced in an intensive system.…”