title: Influence of level of barley supplementation on plasma carotenoid content and fat spectrocolorimetric characteristics in lambs fed a carotenoid-rich diet.
abstract: This study investigated changes in plasma carotenoid concentration and fat reflectance spectrum characteristics and color in lambs fed a carotenoid-rich diet with low-level (L, 100 g/lamb/day) or high-level (H, 400 g/lamb/day) of barley supplementation for 75 days before slaughter. Each treatment used 24 Romane male lambs that were individually penned indoors. Plasma carotenoid concentration at slaughter was 16% lower in H lambs than in L lambs. H lambs had heavier and fatter carcasses than L lambs. Yellowness and redness of perirenal fat were slightly lower in H lambs than in L lambs. The absolute value of the mean integral (AVMI) calculated from the reflectance spectrum of the fat in the 450-510 nm band was not affected by the treatment. Yellowness, chroma and AVMI of subcutaneous fat were not affected by the treatment but decreased with initial animal's liveweight.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, INRA, UR1213 Herbivores, Site de Theix, F-63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zawadzki
authors.forename: I N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: do Prado
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prache
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood*; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D001467:Hordeum; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D034561:Sheep, Domestic; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002338:Carotenoids