Effect of canola oil on meat quality and fatty acid profile of Araucano creole lambs during fattening period

Abstract This study investigated the effect of canola oil on meat quality of Araucano creole lambs. Twenty-four Araucano creole lambs (5 months of age) were used for this study. The lambs were randomly divided into two groups and fed ad libitum amount of diet consisting of concentrate (40%) and pea straw (60%) without added fat for the control group and with the addition of 50 mL of canola oil (three times per week; 150 mL a week) for the treatment group for a period of 90 days. The liveweight, physicochemical parameters (pH, intramuscular fat (IMF), colour, water holding capacity (WHC) and tenderness) and fatty acid profile of twenty-four Araucano creole lambs were assessed. Administering canola oil to Araucano creole lambs during the finishing diet did not show significant differences in liveweight between groups, although lamb from Canola group presented slightly higher liveweights compared to control group (32.20 vs . 33.89 kg, for control and Canola groups, respectively). Statistical analysis showed that lamb meat from the control group had lower ( P vs . 6.15 kg/cm 2 , for Canola and control groups, respectively). The colour of the meat was also affected by canola oil, showing higher ( P P Canola oil significantly modified the amount of IMF (4.65 vs . 5.65%, P vs . 2446.3 mg/100 g of meat, P vs . 530.9 mg/100 g of meat, P n 6/ n 3 ratio (5.42 vs . 4.64, P vs . 0.99, P