Effect of slaughter age and breed on meat and kaddid quality – a comparative study of Noire de Thibar and Barbarine sheep breeds

As demand for local quality products continues to grow, new ways of adding value to sheep meat are being explored. In this connection, cull ewe meat could be an interesting alternative to traditional products. This study aims to promote the use of cull ewes’ meat in traditional meat products by evaluating the influence of age and breed on meat quality through a two-part approach. In the first part, the effects of age and breed were assessed on raw meat, while in the second part, the same parameters were investigated in traditional dried meat product “kaddid”. Two Tunisian sheep breeds, Noire de Thibar (NT) and Barbarine (BR), were examined at two age groups (3-month-old lambs and 5-year-old adults). Quality parameters, i.e. tocopherols, intramuscular fat (IMF) content, lipid peroxidation (TBARS), and fatty acid profile, were analysed for raw meat and kaddid samples. In raw meat, both breed and age factors significantly affected the α-tocopherol and total polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents. Raw meat samples of BR breed showed higher levels of α-tocopherols and polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, no significant effects were revealed for γ -tocopherols, intramuscular fat, saturated fatty acids (SFAs), and lipid peroxidation levels. In kaddid samples, tocopherol content was affected by the slaughter age and revealed higher tocopherol content for ewes’ kaddid samples (P < 0.05), while intramuscular fat and TBARS showed no significant variation (P > 0.05). Fatty acid groups were significantly affected by the age and breed factors, except SFAs, which were unaffected by age. The NT breed kaddid showed favourable levels of PUFA content, which can contribute to the recommended daily PUFA consumption for humans. Overall, both age and breed exerted clear effects on fresh meat and kaddid quality. In particular, meat from cull ewes showed advantageous tocopherol and PUFA profiles in dried products, highlighting its potential as a valuable raw material for traditional meat processing.