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The rosemary distillation industry produces a considerable amount of rosemary distillation residues (RRs), which can be an alternative for feeding animals in harsh conditions and could enhance animal product quality. Given the meat quality is largely influenced by its fat content and fatty acid composition, the fatty acid (FA) profiles of longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL), semi-membranous (SM) muscles, and caudal (CFs) and omental fats (OFs) were determined using 21 Barbarine lambs fed with or without RRs. Diets contained 600 g of concentrate plus 600 g of forage. Forage represented oat hay, RR87 and RR60 pellets containing 87 % or 60 % of RR, respectively. At the end of the study, all lambs were slaughtered, and the fatty acid profile was studied. The inclusion of RR increased the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents and reduced saturated fatty acids (SFAs), and the thrombogenic and saturation indexes in all tissues. The SM muscle was the richest tissue in PUFAs, n -3 and n -6; however, both adipose tissues contained the highest proportions of SFAs. Especially the OF was the richest tissue in oleic acid and SFAs. Feeding RR to lambs enhanced meat quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthetic antioxidant improved the shelf life of meat products; however, consumers start to reject them for health reason. For this, the natural antioxidants like Myrtle distillate leaves (MDL) could be an interesting alternative and potential natural antioxidant given their richness in bioactive compounds. This study aimed to test the effect of myrtle distillate leaves (MDL) as natural antioxidant in premortem phase as diet of cull ewes and in postmortem phase in form of powder added to deboned legs on meat' quality. All ewes received individually 500 g of hay and 750 g of concentrate for Control (C) group; for Myrt group, the concentrate was partially replaced (400 g) by pellets containing 30% MDL and 350 g concentrate. For each ewe, both legs were used for the experiment; one leg was treated with MDL powder and the other with Control. Meat from ewes' fed MDL presented better scores for red color, aftertaste and juiciness, than control group. Meat treated with MDL powder showed the highest values of total phenolic, α‐tocopherol content and redness score with lower lipid oxidation (p <.05). The microbiological quality of meat was not affected by MDL. Myrtle distillate leaves could be used in different forms, in order to obtain higher meat product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]