## 3 Results and Discussion
### carcass Weight and pH Value of the Meat
** & & \\ \hline Live weight (kg) & 12.9 & 15.0 & 12.0 & 13.8 & 16.0 & 10.5 & 20.00 & 20.7 & 16.2 & 22.2 & 24.3 & 17.3 & 0.088 & \(\leq\)0.001 \\ \hline Carass weight (kg) & 6.71 \({}^{\circ}\) & 8.43 & 5.35 & 7.15 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 8.11 & 5.82 & 9.31 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 11.29 & 7.23 & 10.1 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 13.36 & 6.97 & 0.23 & \(\leq\)0.001 \\ \hline pH\({}_{\rm Habours}\) & 5.89 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 6.40 & 5.44 & 5.64 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 6.22 & 5.00 & 5.89 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 6.57 & 5.22 & 6.08 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 6.59 & 5.78 & 0.04 & \(\leq\)0.001 \\ \hline \multicolumn{13}{c}{_Chomile composition_} \\ (\%_fresh_ sent) & & & & & & & & & & & & & & \\ Moisture & 75.62 & 76.79 & 74.25 & 75.59 & 77.16 & 74.18 & 75.96 & _77.07_ & 74.88 & 76.15 & 77.15 & 74.94 & 0.08 & 0.050 \\ \hline Protein & 20.88 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 22.22 & 19.89 & 20.82 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 22.36 & 18.85 & 20.62 \({}^{\rm db}\) & 21.87 & 19.60 & 20.27 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 21.04 & 19.51 & 0.09 & 0.046 \\ \hline Fat & 1.32 & 2.25 & 0.73 & 1.52 & 3.09 & 0.48 & 1.34 & 2.05 & 0.77 & 1.28 & 2.03 & 0.74 & 0.05 & 0.480 \\ \hline Ash & 1.32 & 1.67 & 1.15 & 1.54 & 2.36 & 1.20 & 1.48 & 2.01 & 1.03 & 1.48 & 2.56 & 1.15 & 0.03 & 0.166 \\ \hline Calour & & & & & & & & & & & & & \\ Mygoglobin content & & & & & & & & & & & & & \\ (mg/g fresh meat) & 3.68 & 6.78 & 1.46 & 4.02 & 7.08 & 2.04 & 4.06 & 7.29 & 1.82 & 3.04 & 5.00 & 0.86 & 0.16 & 0.084 \\ \hline Lightness (\({}^{\rm a}\)) & 39.58 & 43.11 & 36.55 & 39.16 & 42.65 & 36.42 & 38.75 & 43.24 & 35.63 & 38.40 & 43.79 & 34.66 & 0.23 & 0.289 \\ \hline Redness (\({}^{\rm a}\)) & 11.25 & 12.65 & 8.65 & 11.18 & 13.36 & 8.22 & 11.44 & 14.24 & 8.59 & 11.41 & 12.93 & 8.34 & 0.15 & 0.928 \\ \hline Yellowness (\({}^{\rm b}\)) & 6.29 & 7.98 & 4.98 & 6.09 & 7.27 & 4.59 & 6.02 & 7.34 & 4.90 & 5.68 & 7.97 & 4.43 & 0.09 & 0.108 \\ \hline Chroma (C\({}^{\rm a}\)) & 12.92 & 14.33 & 9.98 & 12.77 & 14.87 & 10.78 & 12.98 & 15.26 & 10.98 & 12.80 & 13.94 & 10.30 & 0.13 & 0.937 \\ \hline Hue angle (H\({}^{\rm a}\)) & 29.26 & 38.81 & 22.98 & 28.87 & 41.49 & 21.49 & 28.12 & 40.51 & 21.08 & 26.61 & 37.49 & 19.11 & 0.56 & 0.334 \\ \hline Shear force (kg/cm\({}^{\rm a}\)) & 4.94 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 7.64 & 2.07 & 5.67 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 7.53 & 2.27 & 3.78 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 5.30 & 7.27 & 2.87 \({}^{\rm c}\) & 5.35 & 7.42 & 2.40 & 0.042 \\ \hline \multicolumn{13}{c}{_Wider holding capacity_} \\ \multicolumn{13}{c}{Cooking losses} & 24.38 & 30.17 & 14.28 & 24.92 & 32.31 & 15.25 & 24.98 & 29.08 & 18.75 & 23.23 & 31.07 & 13.84 & 0.45 & 0.473 \\ \hline Pressure losses & 13.21 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 15.97 & 9.86 & 13.53 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 18.37 & 9.49 & 16.38 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 19.70 & 10.03 & 15.73 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 19.88 & 12.10 & 0.30 & \(\leq\)0.001 \\ \hline \multicolumn{13}{c}{Different superscripts (\({}^{\rm a}\))\({}^{\rm b}\)WHC: water holding capacity, expressed in percentage of liquid expelled. The pH values measured in meat from the Mallorquina lamb breed were in the range of 5.64 to 5.89. These values were similar to the range of values found by [PERSON] et al. [24] after 24 h for the lamb meat (range 5.97 and 6.04), indicating that transporting the animals to the slaughterhouse and their handling prior to slaughter were correctly carried out for rigor mortis to set in and transform the muscle into meat. Although the lambs were not slaughtered on the same day, the pH values observed in the meat were not affected by the slaughter routine of the lambs, since conditions were taken into account in the slaughterhouse about the protection of animals at the time of slaughtering. However, it should be noted that significant higher pH values were observed in meat from the Roja Mallorquina breed (6.08) than that of the Mallorquina breed (\(p<0.05\)). The Roja Mallorquina breed is probably more susceptible to stress factors at the slaughterhouse than the Mallorquina breed, leading to a late increase in the pH of the meat [25].