Effect of Ferulago angulata (Chavil) essential oil supplementation on lamb growth performance and meat quality characteristics

This study investigated the effects of Ferulago angulata essential oil (FAE) dietary supplementation on growth performance, meat quality characteristics and fatty acid composition of longissimus muscle (LM) in fattening lambs. Forty male lambs with an initial body weight of 23.08 ± 1.8 kg were used in a completely randomized design for a 90-day feeding period. Experimental treatments included: 1- control diet (without essential oil; 0FAE), 2- diet supplemented with 250 mg kg DM FAE (250FAE), 3- diet supplemented with 500 mg kg DM FAE (500FAE) and 4- diet supplemented with 750 mg kg DM FAE (750FAE). Daily weight gains, final body weight and dry matter intake (DMI) decreased linearly. The hot carcass weight, dressing percentage, and feed conversion ratio were not affected. Digestibility of nutrients decreased linearly. The lowest digestibility of nutrients and DMI was observed for 750 FAE. A trend to the lower concentration of ammonia and total VFA occurred with increased content of FAE in the diet. Including FAE did not affect ruminal pH. The physical parameters and chemical composition of meat were not influenced by the treatment. The TBARS value of LM in lambs given the FAE supplementation decreased linearly than control. The supplements increased the concentrations of PUFA and decreased SFA contents in meat linearly. Lambs that used diets containing FAE had the lower n-6: n-3 fatty acid ratio than control treatment. Our findings indicate that FAE (up to 750 ml/kg DM) can be used in diets without adverse effect on physical parameters and chemical composition of meat and it enhanced the anti-oxidative status of lamb's meat. However, further research is required to determine the effect of higher levels of FAE (more than 500 ml/kg DM) on the ruminal fermentation, diet digestibility and growth performance of lambs.