Effects of intramuscular vitamin E multiple injection on quality, oxidative stability and consumer acceptability of meat from Laticauda lambs fed under natural rearing conditions

•Intramuscular injections of vitamin E did not influence growth performance of lambs.•Vitamin E treatment increased meat redness and reduced lipid oxidative stability.•Vitamin E treated meat had higher PUFA content and better nutritional indices for fatty acid profile.•Meat from treated lambs had higher sensory scores.

The effects of intramuscular injection of vitamin E on performance, carcass traits, physicochemical and nutritional properties of meat, lipid oxidation, and consumer acceptability were studied in Laticauda lambs. Twenty four 15 day old Laticauda suckling male lambs were randomly divided into two groups and weekly intramuscular injections of DL-α-tocopheryl acetate (Control group, 0 IU; Vitamin E-treatment, a total dose of 1500 IU) were given until the lambs were 57 days old. Lambs were slaughtered at 64 days of age (live weight: 20.41 ± 0.61 and 19.58 ± 1.01 kg for Control and Vitamin E-treated groups, respectively). Vitamin E treatment did not influence growth but reduced hot dressing percentage. Vitamin E did not affect the most meat quality traits as well as cholesterol, while increased meat redness and lipid oxidative stability. The treatment also increased the total PUFA, the PUFA to SFA ratio and decreased the n-6 to n-3 FA ratio and thrombogenic index. Meat from vitamin E treated lambs received higher hedonic scores for tenderness and juiciness than the respective control. In conclusion, this study has shown that intramuscular vitamin E multiple injection reduced lipid oxidation; maintained the redness of meat, and increased the nutritional value and consumer acceptability of lamb meat.