Nin.hr (M.D.T.); [email protected] (A.K.); [email protected] (I.L.) Ministry of Agriculture, Ul. Grada Vukovara 78, 10000 Zagreb,

Nin.hr (M.D.T.); [email protected] (A.K.); [email protected] (I.L.) Ministry of Agriculture, Ul. Grada Vukovara 78, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; [email protected] Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetosimunska Cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; [email protected] Correspondence: [email protected]: Krvavica, M.; gum, J.; Topalovi, M.D.; Kegalj, A.; Ljubi i, I.; c cc Konja i, M. Modifications in Proximate cc Chemical and Mineral Compositions of Various Sex Categories of Mutton during the Dry-Curing Process. Animals 2021, 11, 3019. https:// doi.org/10.3390/ani11113019 Academic Editors: Luigi Faucitano and Federica Bellagamba Received: 29 July 2021 Accepted: 18 October 2021 Published: 20 OctoberSimple Summary: The older raw mutton categories are regarded to be of poor Quizartinib Protocol excellent and are poorly accepted by shoppers, primarily because of the toughness and intense odor. As a result, they are most often employed within the production of numerous meat goods. In Dalmatia, mutton is mainly processed into a traditional dry-cured item referred to as kastradina. Its high-quality is determined by the age and sex, plus the Brequinar web kastradina in the castrated and fattened rams (wethers) will be the very best accepted by shoppers. This study examined the influence of sex and castration on the proximate chemical and mineral compositions of raw mutton and kastradina as indicators of their high quality. Meat is primarily a source of protein as well as a important supply of minerals (phosphorus, iron, zinc, potassium) inside the human eating plan. Thus, it is essential to decide which components influence their composition one of the most. The outcomes showed that sex and castration considerably affected the salt content material plus the proximate chemical and mineral compositions of raw mutton and kastradina that could have an effect on the excellent (nutritive and sensory) of kastradina. The findings suggested that the raw mutton of wethers and ewes might be a better-quality raw material for production of kastradina than could the ram mutton. Abstract: The aim of this research was to establish the impact of sex, castration, and processing around the chemical properties of mutton within the production of kastradina–a standard Dalmatian drycured meat product. Consequently, the carcasses of 20 ewes (E), 20 rams (R), and 20 wethers (W) from the Dalmatian pramenka breed have been processed by dry-curing. On the 1st, 35th, and 60th days of processing, the samples from the scapulae had been taken, then the proximate chemical, NaCl, and mineral analyses had been performed, and considerable differences involving most of the parameters were identified. In contrast to W, the R samples contained considerably additional proteins (p 0.01), NaCl (p 0.05), and potassium (p 0.05) and much less fat (p 0.05). Moreover, in comparison with the W and R categories, the E category of kastradina contained drastically far more calcium (p 0.05). The greater contents of intramuscular fat, potassium, and calcium and reduce content of NaCl could positively have an effect on the sensory (marbling, flavor, juiciness, and tenderness) and chemical (fatty acid profile) properties of kastradina. These findings suggest that the W and E raw mutton might be a better-quality raw material for production of kastradina than could the R, but additional research is required for a much more extensive image of its good quality. Keywords and phrases: chemical composition; dalmatian dry-cured mutton; impact of sex and castration; kastradina; mineral composition; muttonPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published ma.