Sheep meat with less fat

2004/02/05 Andonegi Beristain, Garazi - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Abeltzaintza

The Navarra breed, formerly known as Rasa Aragonesa, is common in the center of Navarra and in the Ribera. It is a breed of 420,000 sheep heads that are mainly used to be lambs. These lambs die at 23-25 kg, i.e. at about 3 months.

There is a reason to kill lambs with that age and weight: do not accumulate fat. In fact, larger lambs are not well received on the market; they are sold less because they have too much fat and a great taste of sheep.

Fat reduction and cost

The demand for low-fat meat has led researchers to develop new methods of cultivation. These methods include changing diet and hormones. Through them it is sought the cultivation of sheep that have less fat, to die when they have more weight and reduce their production cost.

The Navarrese team investigates the influence of two substances typical of sheep feed on the development of textile fat: Vitamins A (retinols) and conjugated linoleic acids (CLA). Researchers aim to modulate the accumulation of animal fat by regulating the fat accumulation process in the body.

According to the initial hypothesis, both substances reduce the accumulation of fats, that is, they stop the development of adipocytes. But they want to know what concentration of these substances is needed to get the desired result, to be able to give the right doses to lambs.

More information: Basqueresearch.com