Proximate and mineral composition of M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum of suckling lambs from three Croatian indigenous breeds reared in outdoor conditions

Lamb meat represents an important source of nutrients for humans worldwide. However, nutritional value of lamb meat, and particularly that obtained from suckling lambs, has been scarcely investigated in comparison to other categories of meat. The study aimed to provide some basic insights into proximate and mineral composition of lamb meat and to disclose some important sources of its variability. Three Croatian indigenous insular sheep breeds were included in the study: Rab sheep, Cres sheep, and Krk. The lambs were reared in outdoor insular environment where lambs were fed exclusively by suckling their mothers and by grazing wild grown vegetation. It has been determined that gender significantly affected fat (p < .001) and moisture ratio (p < .05), and had no effect on concentration of the examined minerals, except Zn (p < .01). The factor composed of breed and environment significantly affected moisture ratio (p < .001), fat ratio (p < .01), and concentrations of Ca, Na, Cu, and Mn (p < .001), Zn (p < .01), and K (p < .05). The concentrations of Mn and Ca were by far the most influenced by breed-environment effect. The results of the study evidenced that factor composed of breed and environment represents important source of variability of nutritional value of lamb meat produced in extensive rearing systems