Effects of stoned olive pomace on carcass characteristics and meat quality of lambs

Abstract

Thirty-six Merino–Kıvırcık crossbred male lambs were utilized to evaluate the influence of two levels of dried stoned olivepomace. Lambs were blocked by initial body weights (BW, 20.4 kg) and randomly distributed into three groups. While one groupreceived commercial concentrates without olive pomace, the second and third groups received an experimental diet containing 10%olive pomace and 20% olive pomace, respectively. They were fed for 49 days. The animals’ BW and feed consumption were recordedweekly and biweekly, respectively. The lambs were slaughtered at the end of the trial. The carcass cut weights were recorded and asample of LD muscle was collected for fat content and composition. Overall, there were no differences in slaughter characteristics,carcass measurements, or cut weights among the treatments (P > 0.05). The fatty acids (FAs) profile of LD muscle showed that 20% olivepomace fed animals had lower pentadecanoic and erucic acids, while they had higher oleic acid content (P 0.05). Meat rich in oleic acid faredbest with panelists, which was found in the 20% olive pomace fed lambs.