2.2 Slaughtering and muscles sampling
Animals were slaughtered after an overnight fasting in lairage according to the Islamic Halal-method (slitting the throat to cut the jugular veins and arteries without stunning) at the slaughter house, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, UPM. Carcasses were chilled for 24 h at 4 °C and then the longissimus thoracis (LT) from both sides were removed (between 6th to 12th ribs). LT from right side was frozen-stored at −80 °C for fatty acids analysis and sensory evaluation. The LT from left side was divided to two parts and each part was vacuum-packed and conditioned for 1, or 7 days at 4 °C. At the end of the aging time, the samples were frozen at −80 °C for meat quality and lipid oxidation analyses.