Influence of slaughtering age on chemical composition of mengali sheep meat at quetta,Pakistan

The aim of this study was to investigate chemical composition of meat of mengali sheep (n=100) without teeth (group a),with 2 teeth (group b),with 4 teeth (group c) and 6 teeth (group d). chemical characteristics of mutton in respect of moisture,protein,fat,ash and vitamin a contents were determined. moisture content for mutton group a was higher (76.20±1.48%),followed by b,c and d sheep viz.,75.12±2.52%,74.07±1.61% and 73.17±2.32%,respectively. protein content of group a meat was lower (17.79±1.77%) compared with b (18.31±2.24 %),c (20.02±1.98%) and d (20.40±2.14%). the highest fat content was recorded in sheep meat of group d (4.71%±0.55%),followed by group c (4.41±0.43%),b (3.91±0.48%) and group a (3.02±0.36%). ash content in meat of group a sheep averaged 1.21±0.17 %,group b 1.334±0.23 %,group c 1.353±0.11% and group d 1.32±0.09%. vitamin a content were found high in meat of group a (683.16±5.33 μg/100g) compared with that of b,c,and d (668.06±7.50,664.04±5.12 and 653.74±4.89 μg/100 g meat,respectively). the meat of sheep with six teeth had the highest protein and fat contents and the lowest levels of moisture,vitamin a and ash contents. it is concluded that the moisture and vit. a level decreased with age in the mengali mutton whereas the protein,fat and ash contents increased with age. copyright 2013 zoological society of pakistan.