GR measurement of 9.9 (2.2) mm. The cryptorchids were 6.8 months old and had a mean
(S.D.) fasted pre-slaughter liveweight of 49.6 (3.7) kg, a hot carcass weight of 25.6 (2.5) kg
and a GR of 13.2 (2.9) mm. The mean LL and SM temperatures for ewe carcasses 8 hr
post-mortem were 6.6”C and 9.7”C, respectively. For cryptorchids, the corresponding
temperatures were 10.2°C and 14.2”C.
There were few significant differences between genotypes for the various meat quality
traits amongst ewe carcasses (Table 2). The PD xBLM ewes had a significantly lower
(p < 0.05) pH than the BLx M ewes for the LL and SM muscles. The PDxBLM LL
samples were darker (lower L* values) then those from BLxM animals, although the
difference was not significant when muscle temperature was included as a covariate.
PD xM had significantly lower b* values (less yellow) than TxBLM for the LL. Adjustment
for temperature reduced this difference to non-significance, but resulted in lower b*
values (p < 0.05) for PDxM than TxBLM SM samples. In general, sample temperature
did not significantly effect meat colour measurements, nor did muscle pH.
The BxLM cryptorchids had a higher LL muscle pH (p < 0.05) than the PDxBLM
cryptorchids with other genotypes being intermediate (Table 3). The BLxM muscles had
a lower cooking loss than the PDxM and T xM muscles with the other genotypes being
intermediate (Table 3). There were no significant differences between the genotypes for
muscle shear force values or colour measurements. There was no evidence of a curvilinear
relationship between LL shear force values and pH.