Meat quality, proximate composition and muscle fatty acid profile of young llamas (Lama glama) supplemented with hay or concentrate during the dry season

Thirty llamas were used to study the effect of a 90 day feed supplementation on meat quality, chemical composition and muscle fatty acid profile. Treatments were: GR = llama on native pasture until slaughter; GR + SH = like GR, but with overnight free access to barley/alfalfa hay; and GR + SC = like GR, but with overnight free access to a wheat bran/sorghum grain concentrate. The supplementation had no effect on postmortem pH and temperature decline in the Longissimus lumborum muscle (LLM), cooking losses nor Warner-Bratzler shear force values (P > 0.05). Meat from GR + SC llama had higher fat content in LLM (P < 0.05) compared to GR and GR + SH llama. Intramuscular fat from GR + SH llama showed higher (P < 0.01) proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids, higher (P < 0.05) polyunsaturated fatty acids/saturated fatty acids and desirable fatty acids ratio, lower (P < 0.05) omega-6/omega-3 (n − 6/n − 3) ratio, and higher (P < 0.01) conjugated linoleic acid.