Insights into the role of major bioactive dietary nutrients in lamb meat quality: a review

Abstract

Feed supplementation with α-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) increases their content in muscle, ALA increases n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and decrease n-6/n-3 ratio in muscle, and LA increases rumenic acid. However, high LA supplementation may have negative effects on lambs’ lipid oxidative stability of meat. When the sources of ALA and LA are fed as fresh forage, the negative effects are counterbalanced by the presence of other bioactive compounds, as vitamin E (mainly α-tocopherol) and polyphenols, which delay the lipid oxidation in meat. There is a wide consensus on the capability of vitamin E delaying lipid oxidation on lamb meat, and its feed content should be adjusted to the length of supplementation. A high dietary inclusion of proanthocyanidins, phenolic compounds and terpenes reduce the lipid oxidation in muscle and may improve the shelf life of meat, probably as a result of a combined effect with dietary vitamin E. However, the recommended dietary inclusion levels depend on the polyphenol type and concentration and antioxidant capacity of the feedstuffs, which cannot be compared easily because no routine analytical grading methods are yet available. Unless phenolic compounds content in dietary ingredients/supplements for lambs are reported, no specific association with animal physiology responses may be established.

Combined Effect of Acid Whey Addition and Ultrasonic Treatment on the Chemical and Microbiological Stability of Lamb Stuffing

“…However, lamb meat has a low n-6/n-3 ratio compared to other meats, such as pork and chicken (3.7 vs. 6.4 and 5.0, respectively) [ 31 ]. It is also an interesting source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), particularly the cis-9, trans-11 isomer (also called rumenic acid), as well as α-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3) and its elongation products [ 32 ]. Other lipid quality indicators also indicate high nutritional value.…”

Dietary linseed supplementation improves meat quality and flavor of sheep by altering muscle fiber characteristics and antioxidant capacity

“…What is surprising is that loin‐eye area increased significantly in our study ( P < 0.05), this result has rarely been described in previous. Linseed contains about 56% ALA (Jiménez et al, 2013), it has been reported that feed supplementation with ALA increases their content in muscle, ALA increases the content of n‐3 PUFA in muscle and decreases the ratio of n‐6/n‐3 (Alvarez‐Rodriguez et al, 2022). Li et al (2015) showed that the loin‐eye area increased significantly with the increase of n‐3 PUFA level.…”

Effect of Diet and Essential Oils on the Fatty Acid Composition, Oxidative Stability and Microbiological Profile of Marchigiana Burgers

“…Moreover, the colour parameters could be also influenced by the increase in oxidation level (TBARS), which in the burgers of group L was higher, due to an abrupt reduction in mitochondrial respiratory activity, which determines a great production of metmyoglobin [38]. A recent review on the effect of bioactive dietary nutrients on meat oxidation and colour stability has shown that in most ruminant studies the greatest colour stability and the least peroxidation were obtained in the meat of animals fed a super-nutritional dose of vitamin E. [39]. Our results also demonstrated for the first time that the oxidative stability and colour measurements of burgers from young Marchigiana bulls could be preserved when a high dosage of vitamin E is added during the finishing period.…”