Carcass characteristics of feedlot lambs fed crude glycerin contaminated with high concentrations of crude fat

Abstract

Thirty non-castrated male lambs with 20 ± 2.3 kg average body weight (BW) were randomly assigned to five treatments consisted of different dietary concentrations of crude glycerin (CG; 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12% on DM basis) to evaluate the effects on performance, carcass and meat quality traits. A quadratic effect was observed for performance (P = 0.04), final BW (P b 0.01) and hot carcass weight (P b 0.01). No effects of CG were observed (P > 0.05) on carcass pH neither on shear-force, cooking loss and ether extract content in longissimus. The inclusion of CG tended to reduce the Zn content in meat (P = 0.09). The data suggests that CG (36.2% of glycerol and 46.5% of crude fat) may be used in diets of finishing lambs with concentrations up to 3% without negative effects on performance and main carcass traits. Moreover, inclusion of CG seems to not affect quality and safety of meat for human consumption.