Fatty Acid Indices and the Nutritional Properties of Karakul Sheep Meat

This study aimed to evaluate the fatty acid profile and health lipid indices of sheep meat (from 52 sheep from NE Romania). The effect of age at slaughter and the influence of muscle region were studied for nutritional parameters, especially the fatty acids from lipid fractions. Based on the fatty acid profiles and lipid contents, the sanogenic indices were determined for two sheep muscle groups. Thus, two different muscle regions from lamb and adult sheep were analysed from both genders, the and , to argue the advantages of each category and the rationalization, in terms of meat consumption, regarding their impact on human health. Sheep meat has many components with beneficial effects on human health. Apart from the fact that it is an important source of nutrients due to its high content of proteins, lipids, and minerals, it is also a product that can provide fundamental bioactive compounds for maintaining metabolic functions. The qualitative indices assessment revealed that lambs have meat with high PUFA content on muscles (approx. 25% of total fatty acids), 0.68 for PUFA/SFA, with highest values for n-3 (approx. 8%) and n-6 (approx. 14%). Appropriate values can also be observed in muscles from adult sheep. The sanogenic indices also presented good values for from lambs and from adult sheep (polyunsaturation index = 7.2-10.2; atherogenic index = 0.56-0.67; thrombogenic index = 0.78-0.96; hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic index = 2.4-2.7 (for )).