Effects of two dietary crude protein levels on finishing performance,meat quality,and gene expression of market lambs |
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Authors: | Yongjie Wang Sarah Shelby Jason Apple Ken Coffey Fred Pohlman Yan Huang |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Animal Science, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA;2. Department of Animal Science and Veterinary Technology, Texas A&M University, Kingsville, TX, USA |
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Abstract: | Seventeen crossbred lambs were assigned randomly to low-protein (LP; 8% crude protein CP]; n = 9) and high-protein (HP; 13% CP; n = 8) diets for 9 weeks. The final body weight, average daily feed intake (ADFI), and average daily gain (ADG) of the HP lambs were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the LP lambs; however, gain to feed ratio (G:F) for the LP lambs was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the HP lambs. Hot carcass weight (HCW), adjusted fat thickness, and drip loss of longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle were significantly higher (P < 0.05) for the HP than LP lambs. In contrast, instrumental color values L*, a*, b*, C*, and hue angle (H) of meat from the LP lambs scored significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the HP lambs. The LD muscle from HP lambs had significantly greater CLA of cis-9 trans-11 isomer (P < 0.05) than the LP lambs. The gene expression of metabolism and meat quality-related genes of LP was significantly higher than HP (P < 0.05). These results suggest that a higher dietary CP level promotes growth performance for finishing lambs, whereas lower dietary CP level is beneficial for meat quality, especially when evaluating color characteristics in the final product. |
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Keywords: | crude protein level finishing lambs gene expression growth performance meat quality |
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