Thirty-two Merino lambs fed barley straw and a concentrate formulated either with palm oil (CTRL group)
plus quercetin (QCT group) or flaxseed (FS group) plus quercetin (FS-QCT group) were used to assess the effects
of this flavonoid on meat quality attributes. The animals were slaughtered after being fed for at least
5 weeks with the experimental diets. Chemical composition of longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle was not different
among treatments. The longissimus lumborum (LL) samples of QCT and FS-QCT groups revealed lower
discolouration (hue angle) when compared to the CTRL and FS lambs (Pb0.05), whereas extract release
volume (ERV) and microbiological data jointly suggest that flaxseed and quercetin may reduce the growth
of microbial populations responsible for meat spoilage in quadriceps femoris (QF)