Effect of dietary inclusion of Ca-salts of palm oil and fish oil on performance, carcass traits and meat quality of Moghani male lambs

The present study aimed to characterize the effect of dietary Ca-salts of palm oil (PO) and fish oil (FO) on performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of growing lambs. The lambs (n=20; IBW=32.7±2.8 kg, 4-5 month-old) were randomly assigned to one of two treatments (10 lambs/treatment) based on IBW and kept individual pens. Lambs were offered one of two diets, 1) control (2.5% PO) and 2) 2.5% FO for 90 days. At the end of the experiment, lambs were slaughtered and carcass characteristics and meat quality were measured. All data were analyzed based on a completely randomized design using the general linear model procedure of SAS. Results showed that Ca-salts of PO and FO did not affect animal performance, carcass traits, and chemical composition of Longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM). Also, shear force, cooking loose, and drip loose percentage of LDM did not affect by treatments. Feeding FO increased odor score (6.13 vs. 5.06) and decreased overall acceptability of meat (4.21 vs. 5.41) compared to PO (P<0.05), while the other sensory characteristics of meat (tenderness, flavor, and juiciness) were not affected by treatments. In conclusion, the feeding of 2.5% Ca-salts of FO increased the fishy odor in the lamb meat according to the sensory panel without changing the performance and carcass characteristics.