Nutritional characteristics of meat from lambs fed diets containing mulberry hay

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional characteristics of meat from lambs fed diets containing 0%, 12.5% and 25.0% (dry matter (DM)) mulberry hay as a substitute for the concentrate. Twentyfour feedlot Île-de-France lambs with an average age of 60 days and bodyweight (BW) of 15 kg were fed in individual stalls and slaughtered at 32 kg BW, at approximately 130 days old. The chemical composition of the experimental diets contained, respectively, 584.4, 569.4 and 571.8 g DM/kg; 188.8, 185.1 and 184 g crude protein (CP)/kg and 29.9, 29.5 and 25.5 Mcal/kg DM for the mulberry hay inclusion levels of 0%, 12.5% and 25.0%, with a dietary forage to concentrate ratio of 50 : 50. The chemical composition of the meat was 757.9 g moisture/kg DM, 208.6 g CP/kg DM, 22.9 g crude fat/kg DM and 10.5 g ash/kg DM. Cholesterol concentration (36.07 mg/100 g) in the meat was not influenced by mulberry hay inclusion of the diet. An increase was observed in the concentrations of saturated pentadecanoic, heptadecanoic and arachidic acids; monounaturated heptadecenoic acid; and polyunsaturated α-linolenic, ɣ-linolenic and eicosapentaenoic acids. Nervonic and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) concentrations responded quadratically, representing 3.7 g/kg and 5.9 g/kg of the meat when mulberry hay was included at 16.98% and 12.56%. Omega-3 acid concentrations increased, while the omega-3 : omega-6 ratio decreased in the meat of mulberry hay-fed animals. Inclusion of mulberry hay in lamb diets increases the amount of desirable fatty acids in their meat, whose nutritional characteristics are improved.

Potential of Mulberry Leaf Biomass and Its Flavonoids to Improve Production and Health in Ruminants: Mechanistic Insights and Prospects

“…Owing to their excellent antioxidant activities, MLFs are of great importance from a biological and pharmacological perspective. Numerous studies have confirmed the antioxidant capacity of MLs or their extracts in rats, cattle, and sheep [18,28,29]. The most promising activities of flavonoids, in addition to being antioxidants, pertain to their potential to modulate different metabolic pathways, especially those linked with energy homeostasis in the body.…”

Mulberry flavonoids modulate rumen bacteria to alter fermentation kinetics in water buffalo

“…Owing to their excellent antioxidant activities, mulberry leaf flavonoids (MLF) are of great importance from the biological and pharmacological point of view. Numerous studies have confirmed the antioxidant capacity of mulberry leaves or their extract in rats, cattle, and sheep ( Peng et al, 2018 ; Cirne et al, 2019 ).…”

Effects of mulberry leaves on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of Japanese quail

“…Many studies have demonstrated that mulberry leaves have successfully been used as a dietary protein source in aquaculture and in poultry and livestock farming (Lin et al, 2017;Cirne et al, 2019;Kong et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2019;Ali et al, 2020;Muthoni et al, 2020;Neamat-Allah et al, 2021). Shehata et al (2021) reported that mulberry leaves can be included in quail diets up to 8% without adverse effects on growth parameters and economic measures, with no oxidative stress and no alteration in quail immunity.…”