H, C, N, O and S stable isotope ratios of livestock from Cameroon

70% of the population in Cameroon is economically dependent on agriculture, essentially represented by livestock production. There are around six million cattle in Cameroon, mostly belonging to the Zebu breed. In order to improve meat and milk productivity for the Gudali zebu breed in Cameroon, international cooperation between Italy and Cameroon has recently been started up. Within the context of this cooperation, 60 samples from three different cattle species (Gudali, White and Red Fulani) from different parts of Cameroon (the Sudano-Sahelian area in the North, Guinea high savannah in the East, high plateau in the West and forests in the South) were subjected to analysis of the 13C/12C, 15N/14N, 34S/32S, 2H/H and 18O/16O ratios of defatted dry matter and the 13C/12C, 2H/H and 18O/16O ratios of fat, using IRMS after combustion or pyrolysis. Stable isotope ratios of bio-elements have already been shown to be capable of characterising meat products on the basis of animal diet and the geo-climatic characteristics of the area of provenance (Camin et al., 2007; Perini et al., 2009; Schmidt et al., 2011). Livestock from Cameroon are characterised by typical δ13C values, due to an animal diet based on C4 plants (such as Echinochloa or Panicum) and δ34S values.