This study aimed to evaluate the effect of incorporating different levels of carob pulp (CP) on fattening performance, carcass characteristics and meat qualityof the Moroccan sheep breed Deroua. Thirty-six entire maleMoroccan breed Deroua lambs with aninitial body weight of 23.5±3.1 kg and age 120±10 days, were randomly divided into three diet’streatmentsof 12 animals: T0(0%CP), T1(10%CP) and T2(20%CP) containing 0, 10 and 20 % of CP, respectively. The experiment lasted 80 days, including 5 days of adaptation to different diets. Lambs were weighed every 15 days, while feed intake was determineddaily. At the end of the experiment, 27 lambs (9per treatment) were slaughtered to determinecarcass characteristics and meat quality. Final body weight and average daily gain (P<0.05) were affected by treatment diet. The inclusion of 10% CP led to a decrease in feed conversion ratio and feeding costs. Carcass characteristics were not affected by diets (P>0.05),except, in case of mesenteric fat (P<0.05) with superiority recorded in treatment diet T1(10%CP). Meat quality parameters were not affected by diets. The meat of lambs feddiets T1 and T2 tended to be lighter in color and less red than those fed diet T0. The results of this work showed that carob pulp can be used as an alternative feedstuff from fattening lambs to reduce feeding costs without affecting fattening performance.

Citrus peels are known as rich source of bioactive compounds. Therefore, the establishment of an appropriate and innovative extraction method is a major interest to the food processing industry. The aim of this work is to assess the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA) of peels extracts prepared from five Moroccan clementine varieties. Extracts were prepared with microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique using acetone and methanol solvents. The evaluation of the antioxidant activity was performed by DPPH and ABTS- free radical scavenging. The extraction conditions had significant effects on total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA). In fact, the highest TPC amount of clementine varieties (730.850±0.004mg GAE/100g DM) was obtained with acetone solvent for the Sidi Aissa variety. Regarding antioxidant activity, results with DPPH method showed an important antiradical and antioxidant activities for Sidi Aissa variety with methanol solvent (46.30± 1.01%) . However, ABTS method showed a good antioxidant activity for Ain Taoujdat with methanol solvent (3.02 mg/100g DM). This work provided to study the biochemical quality of Moroccan clementine extracts obtained by two microwave-assisted extraction processes in order to investigate further industrial potential uses in agro-food and pharmaceutical industries

In Morocco, carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is of considerable socio-economic importance, helping to improve the income of rural populations and to develop the economy of mountain areas. However, the primary use of the carob’s pulp is generally limited in Morocco to animal feed. As a result, the current research suggests a novel pulp-based product designed for human consumption. The main purpose of this work is to characterize a new formulated carob beverage and assess its physicochemical, biochemical, and sensory quality. Two formulas of carob beverages were prepared with two different sugar concentrations (formula A:5 g/100 mL sugar; formula B: 10 g/100 mL sugar). Measurements of pH, titrable acidity, and colour were performed to assess the physicochemical parameters. Total polyphenols and tannins contents were determined as important functional and biochemical parameters. Regarding sensory analysis, preference test, triangle test, hedonic test, and descriptive test, were evaluated. The colour of the two formulations was dark red orange, as determined by chromameter method. For formulae A and B, the titrable acidity was (1.450±0.025) g Citric Acid Equivalent (CAE) /L and (1.450±0.031) CAE g/L, respectively, and the Brix was (11.67±0.22) °Bx and (15.33±0.22) °Bx, respectively. The polyphenols content was (98.8±0.0019) mg Gallic Acid Equivalent (GAE) /100 mL for formula A and (97.7000±0.0017) mg GAE/100 mL for formula B. The tannin level was (24.500± 0.027) mg Catechin (CE)/100 mL and (25.400±0.017) mg CE/100 mL for the formula A and formula B samples, respectively. The sensory analysis tests revealed a distinct difference between the two formulae. In fact, the formula B was highly preferred compared to formula A, also the most prominent features in the drink were colour, smell, flavour, and sweetness.