QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CARCASS AND PHYSICO-CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE MEAT OF LAMBS OF THE BULGARIAN DAIRY SYNTHETIC POPULATION (BDSP) AND ITS F1 CROSSES WITH CHIOS AND LACAUNE N. Stancheva, J. Nakev and G. Staikova Agricultural Institute - Shumen Abstract A study on the fattening ability of lambs from the Bulgarian Dairy Synthetic Population (BDSP) and its F 1 crosses with Chios and Lacaune was initiated at Agricultural Institute – Shumen. As a result it was established that the cold slaughter carcasses produced from BDSP and the F 1 crossbred lambs with Chios and Lacaune are to be classified as “light carcasses” of grade C. They have light pink colour, low to moderate fat coverage and meet the requirements for top quality of light carcasses according to the (S)EUROP scale. The BDSPxChios carcasses are characterized with greater deposition of subcutaneous fats at chest and tail base zones (3.50 mm and 4.68 mm), the general deposition being most uniform in the purebred lambs. Percentage of fats and dry matter is highest in BDSPxChios lambs (P≤0.05 and P≤0.01). Key words: dairy breeds, crossbreeds, carcass quality, meat quality E – mail: nevqna_68@abv.bg