Season-dependent comparative studies of intramuscular fat content and fatty acid composition of pastoral and grain-fed mongolian breeds’ sheep

This comparative study investigated the fat content and fatty acid composition of the different skeletal muscles (biceps femoris, longissimusdorsi and triceps brachii) in Pastoral (Mongolian and Ujumqin sheep) and grain-fed (Ujumqin sheep) Mongolian breeds sheep in the summer and winter.The result showed content of the SFA in pastoral Mongolian, Ujumqin and grain-fed Ujumqin sheep muscles in the winter accounted for as follows: 45,76%, 45,43% and 45,79%; MUFA: 34,81%, 33,52% and 34,27%; and PUFA: 9,90%, 10,75% and 8,72% of the total fatty acids, respectively. However, the content of the SFA in 3 kinds sheep muscles in the summer accounted for: 48,98%, 49,17% and 45,72%; MUFA: 32,24%, 32,81% and 35,42%; and PUFA: 9,47%, 9,26% and 8,45% of the total fatty acids, respectively. The ratio of n-6/n-3 in the pastoral Mongolian and Ujumqin sheep muscles is relatively lower. Whereas, the content of the long chain PUFA EPA C20:5 and DHA C22:6 is higher than those of the grain-fed Ujmuqin sheep.