Quercetin dietary supplementation of fattening lambs at 0.2% rate reduces discolouration and microbial growth in meat during refrigerated storage

Thirty-two Merino lambs fed barley straw and a concentrate formulated either with palm oil (CTRL group) plus quercetin (QCT group) or flaxseed (FS group) plus quercetin (FS-QCT group) were used to assess the effects of this flavonoid on meat quality attributes. The animals were slaughtered after being fed for at least 5 weeks with the experimental diets. Chemical composition of longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle was not different among treatments. The longissimus lumborum (LL) samples of QCT and FS-QCT groups revealed lower discolouration (hue angle) when compared to the CTRL and FS lambs (P < 0.05), whereas extract release volume (ERV) and microbiological data jointly suggest that flaxseed and quercetin may reduce the growth of microbial populations responsible for meat spoilage in quadriceps femoris (QF).

► Shelf live of meat samples from lambs being fed flaxseed and quercetin is studied. ► Quercetin reduced meat discolouration of longissimus lumborum samples. ► Microbiological spoilage was reduced by flaxseed at the doses administered. ► Quercetin also showed antimicrobial properties during refrigerated storage of meat.