Changes in Proximate Chemical and Mineral Compositions of Different Sex Categories of Mutton during the Dry-Curing Process

Abstract

The aim of this research was to determine the effect of sex, castration, and processing on the chemical properties of mutton in the production of kaštradina—a traditional Dalmatian dry-cured meat product. Therefore, the carcasses of 20 ewes (E), 20 rams (R), and 20 wethers (W) of the Dalmatian pramenka breed were processed by dry-curing. On the 1st, 35th, and 60th days of processing, the samples from the scapulae were taken, then the proximate chemical, NaCl, and mineral analyses were performed, and significant differences between most of the parameters were found. Unlike W, the R samples contained significantly more proteins (p p p p kaštradina contained significantly more calcium (p kaštradina. These findings suggest that the W and E raw mutton could be a better-quality raw material for production of kaštradina than could the R, but further research is needed for a more comprehensive picture of its quality.

Keywords

• chemical composition
• dalmatian dry-cured mutton
• effect of sex and castration
• kaštradina
• mineral composition
• mutton