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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2016, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (7): 104-111.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2015448

• Orignal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of grazing duration on polyunsaturated fatty acid deposition and oxidative stability of lamb meat

JIN Yan-Mei1, ZHANG Xiao-Qing2, *, WANG Chong1, LI Mei1, WANG Yi1, YAN Qin1   

  1. 1.Faculty of Marine Studies, Shandong University at Weihai, Weihai 264209, China;
    2.Grassland Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot 010010, China
  • Received:2015-09-23 Revised:2015-11-16 Online:2016-07-20 Published:2016-07-20

Abstract: The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of the grazing duration on polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) deposition and oxidative stability of lamb meat. Forty castrated male Ujumuqin lambs were randomly assigned to five groups with similar liveweight and age, and then subjected to the following treatments: (i) no grazing (0H, control), (ii) 2 h grazing (2H), (iii) 4 h grazing (4H), (iv) 8 h grazing (8H), and (v) 12 h grazing (12H). Each day, the lambs began to graze at 6:00, and stopped grazing at 8:00, 10:00, 14:00 and 18:00, respectively. The lambs were raised for 102 days, comprising a 15-d feed adaptation period and an 87-d experimental period. Six lambs with similar liveweight from each group were slaughtered at the end of experiment. The longissimus dorsi muscles were sampled from each lamb to measure PUFA contents and antioxidant properties. The results showed that the grazing time significantly affected antioxidant parameters. The meat of lambs fed concentrate in stalls had a higher (P<0.001) malondialdehyde (MDA) content than those in the meat of lambs grazed for 2-, 4-, 8- and 12-h, but there was no significant difference in meat MDA content among the lambs in the four grazing treatments. The meat of lambs grazed for 4-12 h had significantly higher (P<0.001) superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, but significantly lower peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity (P=0.020) than those in the meat of lambs exclusively fed in pens. There was no significant difference in the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) among the five groups. The MDA content and SOD activity showed quadratic curve relationships with grazing time. The MDA content decreased up to 10-h of grazing time, and increased after that. In contrast, SOD activity increased up to 10-h of grazing time, and then decreased. The GSH-Px activity was negatively related to grazing time. The groups grazed for 4-h and 12-h had significantly higher PUFA and peroxidizable fatty acids (HP-PUFA) contents in the meat, compared with the 2-h and 0-h grazing groups (P<0.01). There were multiple linear relationships between antioxidant activity and PUFA (R2=0.586, P<0.001) and HP-PUFA (R2=0.602, P<0.001) contents. In conclusion, the meat of lambs grazed for 2-10 h showed better oxidative stability as a result of compounds that counteract oxidative reactions. This has important consequences for extending the shelf-life of lamb meat.