Twenty hair (Pelibuey x Katadin x BlackBelly) and 20 wool (Rambouillet x Criollo) lambs were fattened in an intensive feeding system to reach 40kg body weight at ten months of age. The yield of lamb sides and back fat (51.9%, 2.5mm vs. 47.0%, 2.3mm) were greater in wool lambs. Meat pH was not different between phenotypes but meat temperature was higher during the first hours postmortem in wool lamb sides (27, 23, and 20, vs. 24, 20, and 17ºC). Protein content in meat from the neck (braquicephalic and esternocephalic muscles) and loin (Longissimus lumborum muscle) were higher in hair lambs (21.1 and 20.4 vs. 19.7 and 19.3 %), while moisture of the same muscles was higher in wool lambs (75.6 and 75.9 vs. 73.6 and 74.3%). Ash content was similar in both... |