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The effect of feeding flaxseed or algae supplements to lambs on muscle antioxidant potential (vitamin E), major fatty acid groups, lipid oxidation and retail colour was investigated. Lambs (n=120) were randomly allocated to one of 4 dietary treatments according to liveweight and fed the following diets for eight weeks: Annual ryegrass hay [60%]+subterranean clover hay [40%] pellets=Basal diet; Basal diet with flaxseed (10.7%)=Flax; Basal diet with algae (1.8%)=Algae; Basal diet with flaxseed (10.7%) and algae (1.8%)=FlaxAlgae. Flaxseed or algae supplementation significantly affected major fatty acid groups in muscle. The addition of algae (average of Algae and FlaxAlgae) resulted in lower vitamin E concentration in muscle (P<0.003; 1.0 vs 1.3mg/kg of muscle) compared with lambs fed a diet without algae (average of Basal and Flax). Increasing muscle EPA+DHA by algae supplementation significantly increased lipid oxidation, but retail display colour of fresh meat was not affected., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this experiment was to use metabolomic techniques to investigate the energy metabolism in lamb M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum subjected to very fast chilling (VFC) post-mortem. The tissue was prepared by 2 different operators and subjected to very fast chilling (less than 0°C within 1.5h of slaughter) or typical chilling regimes (Control; 0°C within 22h of slaughter). Non-targeted metabolomic analysis ((1)H NMR) and targeted analysis ((31)P NMR, HPLC-PDA and HPLC-MS/MS) were used to examine the change in muscle metabolites post-mortem. One VFC treatment, which resulted in a colder core temperature and more tender meat, had higher levels of glycolytic intermediate metabolites pre-rigor as well as more of the end-products of adenosine and nicotine nucleotide metabolism pre-rigor, relative to conventionally chilled treatments. In conclusion, VFC to less than 0°C within 1.5h of slaughter causes considerable changes in metabolism and rigor onset, which are associated with tender meat., (Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We investigated the association of muscle iron concentration, in addition to ultimate pH (pHU), on dark meat formation in sheep of different breeds fed forage-based diets. At 1 h simulated display, redness of meat (a*-value) increased (P <.0001) by about 3 units as the iron concentration increased from 10 to 22 mg/kg of meat, whereas the a*-value decreased by 2 units as pHU increased from 5.5 to 6.2 in fresh meat (P <.0001). After 90 days storage the corresponding responses were about 2 units increase for iron concentration and about 1 unit decrease for pHU, respectively. The results clearly show that increased muscle iron concentration was strongly associated with reduced dark cutting in fresh and stored meat evaluated at 1 h simulated display. We conclude that it may be desirable to measure iron concentration, along with pHU, for evaluation of the potential for carcasses to produce dark cutting meat, and for the meat to turn brown during display. • The association of muscle iron concentration and ultimate pH on redness of sheep meat at retail display was investigated • Increased muscle iron concentration was strongly associated with increased redness at 1 h retail display • The muscle iron effect on redness occurred both in fresh and in stored (aged) meat • The effect of muscle iron concentration was additive to the accepted effect of ultimate pH at 1 h retail display • There is a necessity to measure both iron concentration and ultimate pH when evaluating carcasses for dark cutting meat [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]