Fatty acid composition of lamb meat from the autochthonous Jezersko–Solčava breed reared in different production systems

Thirty two autochthonous Jezersko–Solčava lambs were used to investigate the effect of production (pasture vs. stable) and weaning system (suckling vs. weaned) on fatty acid composition of Longissimus dorsi intramuscular fat in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Pasture lambs had lower intramuscular fat concentration (P < 0.0001) more PUFA and trans C18:1, more ALA (P = 0.0322), ARA (< 0.0001) and EPA (0.0149) but less SFA (P < 0.0001) than stable lambs. Weaning system affected PUFA (P = 0.0040) and MUFA (P = 0.0070) but not SFA and trans C18:1 fatty acids. The interaction of production system and weaning system was significant mainly for trans C18:1 and trans C18:2 fatty acids. Finally, lamb meat from all four treatments which are traditionally used in rearing of Jezersko–Solčava lambs are favourable from the nutritive point of view, due to their low n − 6/n − 3 ratio.