Meat Quality of Lambs Fed Different Saltbush Hay (Atriplex Nummularia) Levels

Abstract

Climate changes have increased soil and water salinity, compromising animal production especially in dry areas where scientists have become more interested in halophyte plants, like saltbush. The effects of saltbush hay levels (30, 40, 50 and 60%) were evaluated based on physical-chemical, nutritional and sensory parameters of Santa Inês lamb meat. Thirty-two 8-month-old castrated Santa Inês lambs, with initial weights of 22±1.97 kg were used; they were slaughtered after 60 days in the feedlot. The pH, colour, moisture, protein and cholesterol contents did not differ among treatments. Panelists observed a greater intensity of lamb smell and flavour (P=0.0035) in the meat of animals that received more concentrate in the diet. An increase in the inclusion of saltbush increased ash percentage (P=0.0232), total saturated (P=0.0035) and polyunsaturated (P=0.0287) fatty acids and reduced the lipids (P=0.0055) and the n-6:n-3 ratio (P=0.0058) of the meat. Therefore, saltbush hay can be used as a feeding resource in regions with problems of water and soil salinity because it does not impair the physicalchemical, nutritional and sensory quality of sheep meat.

Effect of halophyte Salicornia bigelovii Torr and graded levels of dietary crude protein on feed performance and carcass traits of camels

“…Carcass adiposity measures from salicornia-fed camels were noticeably higher than those measures from Rhodes grass-fed camels. This was in contrast with the results reported by Al-Owaimer et al (2008) and Moreno et al (2015), who reported that animals fed halophytes had a tendency to have a higher lean and a lower fat content. The discrepancy in results may be related to the differences in halophyte species, stage of animal maturity, animal species, halophyte concentration in diet, and concentration of energy intake.…”

“…Utilizing halophytes and other salt-tolerant plants in the ration of ruminants is a feasible solution to minimize the problems of feed and water shortage in desert, saline coastal, and subcoastal areas (Al-Shorepy et al, 2010;Moreno et al, 2015). Salicornia (Salicornia bigelovii Torr) has been considered as one of the most salt-tolerant species among the halophytes and has been shown to maintain normal growth even when soil NaCl concentration exceeds 1.3 M, two times greater than full-strength seawater salinity (Kong and Zheng, 2014).…”

Impacts of saline water stress on livestock production: A review

“…However, Moreno et al (2015) showed that the water holding capacity was 11% higher in the meat of lambs fed diets with saltbush but did not affect the meat pH or cooking weight loss.…”

Adaptability of sheep to three salinity levels in different environments

“…Small ruminants use water efficiently because of their small size, optimal utilization of ingested water (Araújo, Voltolini, Chizzoti, Turco, & Carvalho, 2010;Kumar, Singh, Kumar, Sahoo, Naqvi, 2016. ), ability to retain water and excrete dry stools and concentrated urine, high tolerance to water stress (Silva, Araújo, Oliveira, Azevedo, & Furtado, 2016), and tolerance to foods with high salt concentrations (Moreno et al, 2015;Castro et al, 2017) and high salinity water (Moura et al, 2016;Yousfi, Marques, Betti, Araus, & Serret, 2016). Potter (1968) reported that the consumption of high salinity water by sheep might increase the osmotic pressure in the rumen, without affecting the ruminal microbiota, and change the heart and respiratory rate of the animals (Duarte et al, 2014).…”