Carcass traits and lamb meat quality assessment of Beni G uil's PGI sheep from eastern Morocco

In Morocco, Breeding is one of the primordial sectors in the national economy, playing an important socio-economic role. The "ANOC" a Moroccan national association for sheep and goat breeders, has achieved the "PGI Beni Guil Sheep". Many breeders from eastern Morocco contributed into this labialization process and an agreement between "ANOC" and the certification body “NORMACERT” has been signed to certify the labeling of meat from Beni Guil lambs. The first batch of labeled lambs was produced in 2012 [1]. The objective of this study is to determine the characteristics of the carcass and meat quality of "Beni Guil" female lambs reared in this semi-arid region (eastern plateau of Morocco), because female lambs are most available for slaughter during all the year, whereas male lambs are generally fattened and reserved for the festival of sacrifice "Aid Aladha".