The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sex and genotype (breed) on the composition and fatty acid profile of the semimembranosus (SM) muscle of feedlot sheep. Four Santa Inês (SI) males, four SI females, and four ½ Santa Inês x ½ Dorper (SI-D) males were used in this trial. Neither breed nor sex significantly affected the chemical composition of meat. However, the meat contents of phosphorus and calcium were both significantly changed by breed and sex. Oleic, palmitc, and stearic were the fatty acids found in larger amounts in the intramuscular fat of lamb meat in this study. There was a significant effect of sex on the profile of unsaturated fatty acids within the SI breed. The fatty acid profile of meat from SI-D sheep showed greater nutritional value because of the highest content of PUFA and PUFA/SFA ratio and the lowest w6:w3 ratio.
breed; chemical composition; Dorper; fatty acids; lamb; sex; Santa Inez
