| Physical (pH, color, tenderness, and cooking weight loss), chemical (moisture, crude protein, ash, and lipids) and sensory (odor, flavor, juiciness, and overall acceptance) characteristics of meat from Santa Inês lambs slaughtered with 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mm of subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT) were evaluated. Samples of the longissimus dorsi muscles were removed from 24 male uncastrated lambs distributed in a completely randomized design with three treatments and eight replicates. Weightings and ultrasound evaluations were performed every 14 days. No significant differences were observed for pH0h, which averaged 6.24. Lambs slaughtered with 4.0 mm SFT differed from the treatments with 2.0 and 3.0 mm as to the pH24h values. The meat from lambs slaughtered... |
