Comparison of grain-based diet supplemented with synthetic vitamin E and lucerne hay-based diet on blood oxidative stress biomarkers and lamb meat quality

ABSTRACT Individually-housed lambs were used to compare the effect of a grain-based diet supplemented with moderate (MOD) or supranutritional (SUP) levels of vitamin E and selenium, and a lucerne hay-based diet (LUC) on plasma-oxidative stress biomarkers, muscle pH decline and meat quality. Lambs fed LUC had different reactive oxygen metabolite concentrations and biological antioxidant potentials to the MOD and SUP treatment groups. All plasma oxidative stress markers decreased in concentration across the four sampling time points measured over the eight week feeding study, except biological antioxidant potential (BAP). Diet did not impact on lamb muscle pH decline traits. Of the meat quality traits measured, the effect of diet was only significant for shear force which was highest for the LUC lambs. Particle size and carbonyl content in meat were influenced by ageing period. Meat cooking loss, peroxidase activity and oxidation-reduction potentials were not influenced by any experimental factors. These findings show that LUC offers a strategic feeding system, and is somewhat comparable to MOD and SUP.