Lipid Oxidation and Colour Stability of Lamb and Yearling Meat (Muscle longissimus lumborum) from Sheep Supplemented with Camelina-Based Diets after Short-, Medium-, and Long-Term Storage

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of feeding pelleted diets containing camelina (Camelina sativa L. Crantz) hay (CAHP) or camelina meal (CAMP) as a supplement compared with a control pellet (CONP) diet, without vitamin E fortification. The fatty acid profile, retail colour, and lipid oxidative stability of lamb and yearling meat (m. longissimus lumborum) stored for short-, medium-, or long-periods (2 days (fresh), 45 days and 90 days) under chilled to semi-frozen conditions were determined. The CAMP diet altered key fatty acids (p < 0.05) in a nutritionally beneficial manner for human health compared to the other diets, with increased total omega-3, decreased omega-6 fatty acids and decreased omega-6/omega-3 ratio of muscle. Muscle vitamin E concentration was lower (p < 0.05) for both camelina diets (CAMP and CAHP) when compared with the CONP diet, with the average concentrations less than 1 mg/kg muscle for all three treatments. Animal type and storage length were factors that all affected (p < 0.05) colour and lipid oxidative stability of meat. These results emphasise the importance of vitamin E concentration in meat stored for extended periods under semi-frozen conditions to maintain desirable meat colour during retail display, and to avoid off-flavour development of the cooked meat.

Realizing the Potential of Camelina sativa as a Bioenergy Crop for a Changing Global Climate

“…Inclusion of 10–20% C. sativa seed meal in the diet of sheep increased the content of linoleic, oleic, and α-linolenic acid content in lamb muscle [ 209 ] and reduced blood triglycerides and glucose content, while increasing insulin levels [ 210 ]. Inclusion of C. sativa seed meal in sheep diets improved the total omega-3 fatty acid and the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids in lamb and yearling meat, but resulted in reduced vitamin E content, which negatively impacted color and oxidative stability upon storage [ 211 ].…”

Retail Packaging Affects Colour, Water Holding Capacity, Texture and Oxidation of Sheep Meat more than Breed and Finishing Feed

“…The lower colour stability in Merino sheep meat was also reported in other studies [ 9 , 10 ]. Furthermore, significant differences in fatty acid composition and vitamin E concentration were found in the Longissimus of Merino and crossbred sheep [ 7 , 10 ]. These differences are likely to result in variation in the oxidation of myoglobin, thus affecting the colour stability of meat.…”

“…Lamb muscles finished on diets supplemented with camelina cake has been shown to have a different fatty acid composition compared to those on the standard pelleted diet without camelina supplementation [ 40 ]. Furthermore, we have reported in a separate study that both camelina hay- and camelia meal-supplemented diets reduced ( p < 0.001) arachidonic acid concentration of Longissimus from these animals compared with the SPD diet [ 7 ]. In addition, the SCM diet significantly increased alpha linolenic acid (ALA) concentration of the Longissimus compared to SPD and SCF, resulting in an increase in total omega-3 concentration and the decrease in the ratio of n − 6/ n − 3 in meat [ 7 ].…”

“…Animal ethics approval was granted by the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) Agricultural Research and Extension Animal Ethics Committee (AEC Code No: 2016-17). Details of the experimental design, feeding of animals, and slaughter procedures were described previously [ 7 ]. In brief, a subset of maternal Composite wether lambs ( n = 21) and Merino wether yearlings ( n = 21) kept in different pens selected based on their final liveweights were used for this study.…”

“…The incorporation of antioxidants, such as vitamin E, or antioxidant-rich pasture crops were shown to result in reduced lipid oxidation and improved eating quality [ 5 , 6 ]. The use of oil crops and meals as animal feed supplements from the Brassica family, particularly camelina (Camelina sativa) has recently gained attention in improving animal productivity and carcass value [ 7 ]. Camelina seed is known to contain essential fatty acids, such as alpha-linolenic acid and different phenolic compounds such as flavonoids and proanthocyanidins, which provides an opportunity to improve the oxidative stability of meat [ 8 ].…”