Dietary pomegranate seed pulp increases conjugated-linoleic and -linolenic acids in muscle and adipose tissues of kid

• Pomegranate seed pulp (PSP) was added up to 150 g/kg DM in fattening kid diets.
• Diets containing PSP increased intramuscular fat content of kid meat.
• Dietary PSP decreased shear force and total aerobic bacterial count of meat.
• Dietary PSP increased CLA, CLnA and other beneficial FA in muscle and adipose tissues.
• PSP inclusion in diet is useful in kid meat preservation.

The effect of level of dried pomegranate seed pulp (PSP) in the diet of kids on meat quality and fatty acid profiles of intramuscular and subcutaneous fat was studied. Thirty two Mahabadi kids were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments: without PSP (control), containing 50 g PSP/kg DM (PSP5), containing 100 g PSP/kg DM (PSP10), and containing 150 g PSP/kg DM (PSP15). At the end of the 84-day feeding trial, the kids were slaughtered and m. longissimus lumborum (LL) and subcutaneous adipose tissues were sampled. Addition of PSP linearly increased (P = 0.01) fat content and decreased (P < 0.01) shear force, drip loss, total aerobic bacterial count and lipid oxidation of LL muscle. Feeding PSP diets linearly increased the concentrations of C18:2 n-6 (P < 0.01), C18:3 n-3 (P < 0.001), n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; P < 0.01) and n-3 PUFA (P < 0.001) and decreased (P < 0.05) the ratio of n-6/n-3 in both muscle and adipose tissues. A linear increase was observed in vaccenic acid (VA, P < 0.01), conjugated linoleic acid (CLA; P < 0.001) and punicic acid (PUA; P < 0.001) concentration in subcutaneous and intramuscular fat, with increasing PSP level in diet. In conclusion, PSP supplementation of kid's diet up to 150 g/kg DM can improve the nutritional and functional properties of meat.