The influence of habitat and sex on feral fallow deer meat lipid fraction

BACKGROUND The study tested the hypothesis that habitat and sex influence the composition of meat lipid fraction. Therefore, this study aims to characterize the effects of habitat and sex on feral fallow deer (Dama dama) tenderloin (psoas major muscle) intramuscular fat composition. RESULTS Fallow deer meat from the Atlantic forest presented higher total cholesterol and total monounsaturated fatty acids contents, while fallow deer meat from Montado presented significantly higher proportion of total branched chain fatty acids, n‐6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and dimethyl acetals. Regarding the sex influence on meat's fatty acid composition, it was observed that female fallow deer displayed higher contents of total saturated fatty acids than their male counterparts. CONCLUSION Independently of the habitat the feral fallow deer's meat can be classified as extra lean. However, the high peroxidability index and the low total vitamin E content suggests that it is prone to lipid peroxidation. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry