Quercetin dietary supplementation of fattening lambs at 0.2% rate reduces discolouration and microbial growth in meat during refrigerated storage.
Thirty-two Merino lambs fed barley straw and a concentrate formulated either with palm oil (CTRL group) plus quercetin (QCT group) or flaxseed (FS group) plus quercetin (FS-QCT group) were used to assess the effects of this flavonoid on meat quality attributes. The animals were slaughtered after being fed for at least 5 weeks with the experimental diets. Chemical composition of longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle was not different among treatments. The longissimus lumborum (LL) samples of QCT and FS-QCT groups revealed lower discolouration (hue angle) when compared to the CTRL and FS lambs (P<0.05), whereas extract release volume (ERV) and microbiological data jointly suggest that flaxseed and quercetin may reduce the growth of microbial populations responsible for meat spoilage in quadriceps femoris (QF).
Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña, CSIC-Universidad de León, Finca Marzanas, E-24346 Grulleros, León, Spain. sonia.andres@eae.csic.es
S
S
Andrés
M L
ML
Tejido
R
R
Bodas
L
L
Morán
N
N
Prieto
C
C
Blanco
F J
FJ
Giráldez
D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019597:Flax / Q000737:chemistry; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D018857:Food Packaging; D061353:Food Storage; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D000073878:Palm Oil; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011794:Quercetin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012034:Refrigeration; D034561:Sheep, Domestic / Q000254:growth & development*
D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D010938:Plant Oils; D000073878:Palm Oil; D011794:Quercetin