Pastoral flavour of cooked meat from lamb fed on steppe and highland pastures

Abstract

Pastoral flavour of cooked meat from lamb fed on steppe and highland pastures Nabila Berrighi1*, Louiza Belkacemi 2 et Kaddour Bouderoua3

1Laboratory of Food Technology and Nutrition. Mostaganem University. Algeria. 2Laboratory of the Research Group of Human Nutrition and Food Science (E 098- 02) of the University of Murcia, Spain. nabilaberrighi@gmail.com

Abstract :

Flavor is the sensory impression sensed by taste and smell buds and is a leading factor determining the meat quality and purchasing decision of the consumer. The present study investigated the volatile organic compound (VOC) profile in the meat lamb grazing at pasture compared with lambs fed concentrate and pasture and in the meat of Rumbi lambs and to highlight the flavor chemistry, meat flavor precursors and factors affecting meat flavor precursors. Twenty seven month-old lambs, with an average body weight (W) of 32.2±2.38 kg, were divided into two groups (n=10). The first group of lambs was put out to pasture from 21 March to 21 June 2014 on a highland farm (Tiaret), and the second group was raised on a steppe farm (Djelfa). The lambs were randomly selected from a large flock of sheep. After three months of grazing, all the lambs from both highland and steppe groups were slaughtered, and eviscerated in a local commercial slaughterhouse and the Longissimus thoracis muscle was sampled. The muscles were subjected to gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC–O) for analysis. The Djelfa meat lamb contained greater (P< 0.05) amounts of hexanal, nonanal, 2 methyl-3- furanithiol, 2-4 bis1-1dimethylethyl and octanal the meat from the Tiaret lambs due to the presence of aromatic plants and the protective effect of their antioxidant metabolites. Conversely, we did not find significant differences in the accumulation of the VOC between the both groups in the meat of the lambs. Meat flavor is characteristic of volatiles produced as a result of reactions of non-volatile components that are induced thermally. The water soluble compounds having low molecular weight and meat lipids are important precursors of cooked meat flavor. The Maillard reaction, lipid oxidation, and vitamin degradation are leading reactions during cooking which develop meat flavor from uncooked meat with little aroma and bloody taste. The pre-slaughter and postmortem factors like animal breed, sex, age, feed, aging and cooking conditions contribute to flavor development of cooked meat.The Algerian steppe ecosystem is very interesting in generating a typical flavoured lamb meat which may considered as a label.