Quality changes of Longissimus dorsi and Semimembranosus muscles and perirenal adipose tissue during frozen storage of lambs fed dihydroquercetin or dry distilled rose petals supplemented diet

Abstract

The aim of study was to determine the changes of frozen stored of Longissimus dorsi and Semimembranosus muscles and perirenal adipose tissue from Bulgarian Dairy Synthetic population lambs, fed a diet supplemented by 7.5 mg dihydroquercetin (DQ) or 545 mg dry distilled rose petals (DDRP)/kg life weight/d. Three groups of 10 male lambs aged 65 days were fed 50 days ad libitum: a control (ground alfalfa + granular compound feed) and two experimental groups (the same diet + the addition of phytonutrients). Samples were collected 1 d post mortem. A half of them were analyzed immediately. Another half was vacuum-packed, quickly frozen at -40°C and stored for 365 d at -18°C. Supplementing of the lamb’s diet with polyphenol-rich phytonutrients reduces with 6.9 -12.9% the aerobic plate count, 9.3 - 25.3% the α-aminoacidic nitrogen, 31.8 - 45.9% the protein carbonyls and 38.9 - 63.4% TBARS (p ≤ 0.05) more pronounced in the m. Longissimus dorsi from lambs fed with 545 mg DDRP/kg/d. Further studies are needed to understand whether the use of higher doses of DDRP or DQ as supplements in the small ruminant’s diet will be able to provide a more pronounced inhibitory effect on oxidation processes in frozen lamb.