Dietary citrus pulp reduces lipid oxidation in lamb meat
This study investigated the effect of replacing cereal concentrateswith high levels of dried citrus pulp in the diet
on lamb meat oxidative stability. Over 56 days, lambs were fed a barley-based concentrate (Control) or concentrates
inwhich 24% and 35% dried citrus pulpwere included to partially replace barley (Citrus 24% and Citrus 35%,
respectively). Meat was aged under vacuum for 4 days and subsequently stored aerobically at 4 °C. The Control
diet increased the redness, yellowness and saturation ofmeat after blooming (P b 0.01). Regardless of the level of
supplementation, dietary dried citrus pulp strongly reduced meat lipid oxidation over 6 days of aerobic storage
(P b 0.001), while colour parameters did not change noticeably over storage and their variation rate was not
affected by the diet. In conclusion, replacing cereals with dried citrus pulp in concentrate-based diets might
represent a feasible strategy to naturally improve meat oxidative stability and to promote the exploitation of
this by-product.
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