Acta Vet. Brno 2015, 84: 297-303
Histochemical muscle fibre characteristics of German Heath lamb meat
Histochemical characteristics of muscle were evaluated in 12 German Heath lambs (6 males and 6 females). The lambs were slaughtered at the age of 150 days and samples of musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis and quadriceps femoris were collected and measurements of fibre cross sectional area (µm2), diameter (µm2), and perimeter (µm2) were performed. Subsequently the fibre type distribution (%) was calculated. The dataset was evaluated using SAS 9.3. Significantly higher (P < 0.05) cross sectional area, diameter, and perimeter attributes were observed in females compared to males. Significant differences (P < 0.05 to 0.01) were observed in fibre type distribution between musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis and quadriceps femoris muscle. The presented study describes evaluation of morphological formation of skeletal muscle tissue performed on a sheep breed of German origin. The results may be useful for meat scientists or meat industry due to close connection of these characteristics to meat quality.
Keywords
Cross sectional area, fibre type distribution, musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis, quadriceps femoris muscle.
Funding
The study was supported by the "S" grant of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MŠMT ČR).
