Authors
Title
Abstract
The objective of the research study was to assess the meat quality of lambs fattened using a mixture with maize distillers’ dried grains (DDGS) and linseeds, and to compare that quality with the meat quality of control lambs. The study comprised 20 rams of Kołuda sheep and of their crosses; they were fattened to a body weight of 35 ± 3 kg using a standard or an experimental mixture that had 15 % of DDGS and 5 % of linseeds. The intramuscular lipids of lambs from the experimental group were characterized by a higher content of PUFA and MUFA fatty acids and a lower content of saturated fatty acids. The ratio of C18:2 n6 acid to C18:3 n-3 acid in the meat of those lambs was more advantageous than in the meat of control animals (3.81 and 6.69, respectively) and its level was conformable to the dietary level as recommended by the World Health Organization. There was reported no significant effect of feeding the lambs using the experimental mixture supplemented with bio-fuel co-products on the analyzed parameters of slaughter value, physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics of culinary meat from the leg, and on the basic chemical composition of raw and grilled meat except for the significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) fat content in the raw meat. The average fat content in leg meat was 6.9 % in the experimental group and 5.6 % in the control group. The groups of lambs analyzed did not differ significantly as regards the fattening performance. The average daily gains of rams in the experimental group were 347 g and of rams in the control group: 365 g.
Keywords
lambs, feeding, biofuel co-products, slaughter value, meat quality