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Browsing by Author "Viola, Irene"

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  • Fatty acid composition of lamb meat from Italian and German local breeds
    Publication . Gonzales-Barron, Ursula; Popova, Teodora; Bermúdez Piedra, Roberto; Tolsdorf, Anna; Geß, Andreas; Pires, Jaime; Domínguez, Rubén; Chiesa, Francesco; Brugiapaglia, Alberto; Viola, Irene; Battaglini, Luca; Baratta, Mario; Lorenzo Rodriguez, Jose Manuel; Cadavez, Vasco
    The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the quality characteristics, chemical composition and lipid profile of lamb meat from Italian (Biellese and Sambucana) and German (Texel-Merino-Blackhead-Charollais [TMBC]) breeds reared in extensive and semi-extensive production systems. Meat samples from 89 animals were analysed. The meat of the lambs from semi-intensively reared Biellese, and extensively reared Sambucana and TMBC breeds produced lean meat, with slightly higher intramuscular fat content in TMBC. The latter also produced meat of darker colour (P lt 0.05) and higher protein content (P lt 0.05). The meat of Sambucana lambs presented the lowest total cholesterol content (P lt 0.05). The fatty acid profile of the meat showed a clear advantage of both extensively reared breeds, which had substantially lower proportion of saturated but higher of polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly n-3 (P lt 0.05). The beneficial effect of the extensive rearing conditions was associated with lower n-6/n3 ratio, and atherogenic and thrombogenic indices, thereby suggesting that production system can be used successfully to modify the fatty acid profile to achieve a positive effect for the human health.
    2021Journal article Open access Show more
  • On farm welfare assessment of European fattening lambs
    Publication . Bodas, Raúl; García-García, Juan José; Montañés, Mónica; Benito, Alberto; Peric, Tanja; Baratta, Mario; Viola, Irene; Geß, Andreas; Ko, Nathanael; Cadavez, Vasco; Gonzales-Barron, Ursula; Domínguez, Esperanza; Olmedo, Sara
    In order to evaluate the welfare of lambs reared up to 4 months of age in different management systems in Europe, nine lamb meat farms (3 in Spain, 2 in Portugal, 1 in Germany, 1 in Slovenia and 2 in Italy) belonging to different production systems (intensive, semi-intensive, semi-extensive, extensive, shepherded) throughout Europe were visited. The first level welfare assessment according to the AWIN protocol for sheep was used, the data collection flow being as follows: (1) qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA), social withdrawal, stereotypy, excessive itching, panting; (2) fleece cleanliness, fleece quality, tail length, faecal soiling, lameness; (3) familiar human approach; (4) stocking density, access to shade/shelter, water availability; (4) lamb mortality. A great heterogeneity was observed because the breeds and the productive systems in which the animals have been raised are very different; only one of the purely extensive farms had no sheds for the animals, whereas the stocking density in confined animals was always appropriate. The results showed a high degree of compliance with the needs of the animals, which also corresponded to good productive results, but the objectification of the emotional state through the QBA yielded highly variable results, those animals reared under intensive and semiintensive farms grouped around positive descriptors, which may indicate that lambs reared in intensive conditions show a different and apparently calmer mental state than those reared in very extensive conditions.
    2021Journal article Restricted access Show more