Meat Quality, Fatty Acid Content and NMR Metabolic Profile of Dorper Sheep Supplemented with Bypass Fats.

Atique Ahmed Behan,Azira Muhamad,Sharida Fakurazi,Muhammad Tayyab Akhtar,Anjas Asmara Samsudin,Teck Chwen Loh,Ubedullah Kaka

doi:10.3390/foods10051133

Abstract

The supplementation of rumen bypass fat (RBF) has remained one of the preferred approaches used to decrease undesirable saturated fatty acids (FA) and increase beneficial unsaturated FA in the meat. This study was planned to evaluate the influences of rumen bypass fats on meat quality, fatty acid and metabolic profiles in male Dorper sheep (n = 36) with 24.66 ± 0.76 kg (mean ± standard error) initial body weight. Treatment comprised a basal diet (30:70 rice straw to concentrate) with no added RBF as a control (CON), basal diet with prilled fat (PF), basal diet with prilled fat plus lecithin (PFL) and basal diet with calcium soap of palm fatty acids (CaS). The findings revealed that cooking loss, drip loss and shear force in longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle were not affected by RBF supplementation, while meat pH was significantly higher in the CaS on aging day 1. However, the diet supplemented with prilled fat and lecithin modified the meat’s fatty acid profile significantly by increasing unsaturated fatty acids and decreasing saturated fats. The relative quantification of the major differentiating metabolites found in LD muscle of sheep showed that total cholesterol, esterified cholesterol, choline, glycerophosphocholine and glycerophospholipids were significantly lower in CaS and PFL diets, while glycerol and sphingomyelin were significantly higher in CaS and PFL diets. Most of the metabolites in the liver did not show any significant difference. Based on our results, the supplementation of protected fats did not have a negative influence on meat quality and the meat from Dorper sheep fed prilled fat with lecithin contained more healthy fatty acids compared to other diets.

Highlights

The findings are in agreement with the results reported by Andrade et al [57] who found C18:1n-9 in the most abundant concentration in rearing and fattening periods (39.75 and 41.05%) regardless of treatment with supplementation of rumen bypass fat (RBF) in cattle
On the basis of the findings of the present study, it was concluded that the supplementation of different types of bypass fat in Dorper sheep did not affect meat quality parameters, including drip loss, cooking loss, and shear force in longissimus dorsi muscle
Though the RBF supplementation did not have a negative impact on meat quality, the diet containing RBF with lecithin had the ability to modify fatty acid profiles, increasing the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids and decreasing saturated fatty acids

Summary

Introduction

N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) are widely recognized for their positive impact on human heart health, improving platelet aggregation, vasodilation and thrombotic tendency [2,3]. In the last few years, there has been increasing interest in enriching unsaturated fatty acids (FA) and reducing saturated FA levels in ruminant products. Supplementation of rumen bypass fat has been one of the methods used for this modification [4]. Previous studies [5,6] conducted on dietary lipids have revealed that the addition of unprotected fats in ruminant diets has negligible influence on FA composition due to the biohydrogenation of unsaturated FA by microbes in the rumen. Supplementation of rumen bypass fats protects unsaturated FA from rumen biohydrogenation. FA are subsequently absorbed in the small intestine and their incorporation in the muscle and adipose tissues of ruminants is potentially increased [7]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion