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Linseed as a common oil crop that has been implicated in regulating the meat quality of animals. The aim of this investigation was to establish the effects of dietary linseed supplementation on carcass traits, meat quality, muscle fiber characteristics, volatile compounds and antioxidant capacity of sheep. Twenty‐four Sunit sheep were distributed into 2 groups with different diet: control (CO) fed a standard diet and linseed (LS, 8% of extruded linseed). The results showed that linseed not only increased M. longissimus thoracis (LT) increased the loin‐eye area but also decreased pH24h, L* and shear force. Meanwhile, linseed increased mRNA expression of MyHCI and MyHCIIx and decreased in cross‐sectional area (CSA) and muscle fiber diameter. In addition, linseed altered the composition of meat volatile flavor compounds, such as Z‐10‐Pentadecen‐1‐ol, pentanal, 2‐Octenal, (E)‐, decanal, butane, and 2‐heptanone. Moreover, linseed increased total antioxidative capacity (T‐AOC) activity, the mRNA expression of glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px) and catalase (CAT), decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Overall, the results suggest that linseed is an effective feed additive in improving meat quality and flavor. The underlying mechanisms for its effectiveness may be partly due to a change in muscle fiber characteristics and antioxidant capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Nutritional and organoleptic traits are important components of the meat industry, which can affect consumers' purchasing desire and the processing of meat quality. This study evaluated the effect of feeding system on the muscle fiber characteristics, antioxidant capacity, and nutritional and organoleptic traits of goat meat. It was found that the feeding system had great effect on muscle fiber composition, antioxidant capacity, nutritional value, and organoleptic traits of goat meat, but compared with grazing on mountain range (whole area with about 40% inclination), grazing on flatland (whole area with about 0% inclination) improved the meat nutritional value and quality by altering the myofiber characteristic and antioxidative status. This study assists us in comprehending the influence of diverse feeding systems on nutritional and organoleptic traits of goat meat so as to develop more appropriate measures to retain superior quality of goat meat and provide basic data for the development of goat meat products. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding system on muscle fiber composition, antioxidant capacity, and nutritional and organoleptic traits of goat meat. Goats that grazed on flatland (whole area with about 0% inclination, FG group) and mountain range (whole area with about 40% inclination, MG group) were selected for the analysis. The results showed that grazing on flatland increased oxidized-twitch fiber percentage, the expression of the MyHC IIa gene (p < 0.001), the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) (p < 0.05), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (p = 0.001), and radical scavenging ability (RSA) (p < 0.05); meanwhile, the MyHC IIb gene expression (p < 0.01) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content (p = 0.001) were decreased. Feeding system affected nutritional and organoleptic traits of goat meat, and grazing on flatland increased protein content, total content of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), pH45min, a* value, and variety of volatile flavor compounds but decreased the content of saturated fatty acid (SFA), shear force, and b* value. In addition, the key flavor substances were screened using relative odor activity value (ROAV), including hexanal, heptanal, (E)-2-octenal, octanal, nonanal, decanal, (E)-2-nonenal, and 1-octen-3-ol. Among them, 1-octen-3-ol and (E)-2-nonenal were the most contributing flavor compounds in the FG and MG groups, respectively, providing distinctive odor to goat meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This manuscript investigated the effects of different feeding regimes on antioxidant activity, meat quality, fatty acid composition, lipid oxidation, and volatile matter production in the longissimus thoracis muscle of Sunit sheep during postmortem aging. It was found that pasture-fed sheep had better oxidative stability, meat quality, and fatty acid composition. At the same time, aging affected the oxidative stability, meat quality, and fatty acid composition of sheep meat, which in turn had an impact on the flavor composition of sheep meat. Aging also eliminates the differences caused by different feeding regimes to a certain extent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding regimes and aging time on the meat quality of sheep and to provide meat professionals with a theoretical basis that can be applied in practical production. It also accelerated the transition from traditional grazing to indoor rearing to maintain ecological balance. The effects of different feeding regimes on antioxidant activity, meat quality, fatty acid composition, lipid oxidation, and volatile matter production in the longissimus thoracis (LT) of Sunit sheep at 0, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h postmortem were investigated. The results showed that the activity of antioxidant enzymes, tenderness, water retention, and percentage of unsaturated fatty acids were significantly higher in the pasture-fed sheep (PF) than in the concentrate-fed sheep (CF) (p < 0.05). During postmortem aging, antioxidant activity, water retention, and the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids decreased in the PF and CF (p < 0.05), while malondialdehyde (MDA) content, the proportion of saturated fatty acids, and the content of flavor substances resulting from fat oxidation increased. After 24 h of LT muscle aging, the pH and shear force of the meat started to increase and the color stabilized. The differences between shear force values and lipid volatile flavor substance content of sheep meat under different feeding regimes disappeared with increasing aging time. PF had better oxidative stability and fatty acid composition. Postmortem aging changed the oxidative stability of sheep meat, thus affecting meat quality and fatty acid composition and consequently meat flavor composition, while aging also eliminated to some extent the differences caused by feeding regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of probiotics on growth performance, meat quality, muscle fiber characteristics, volatile compounds, and antioxidant capacity in lambs. A total of 24 Sunit lambs were randomly allocated into two groups, each consisting of three replicates of four lambs. Throughout the experiment period, the lambs were fed with based diet (CON) and 10 g probiotics/d supplemented diet (PRO). Compared with the CON group, the number of lactic acid bacteria in fecal samples of PRO group was significantly increased (p <.05) and the coliforms were significantly decreased (p <.05). Dietary probiotics supplementation decreased pH24h, L*, and shear force (p <.05). The muscle fibers were switched from type IIB to type I, with a decrease in the mean cross‐sectional area (CSA) (p <.05) of longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle. Also, probiotics altered the composition of meat volatile flavor compounds, such as nonanal, undecanal, 1‐pentanol, 1‐hexanol, and 2,3‐octanedione. In addition, probiotics increased the total antioxidative capacity (T‐AOC) and catalase (CAT) activity of LT muscle, while it decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (p <.05). Overall, these results indicated that probiotics could be used as an effective feed additive by improving meat tenderness and flavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the effects of oxidative stability variation on meat quality and flavor in biceps femoris (BF) and longissimus dorsi (LD) muscles of lambs during postmortem aging. The samples were stored at 4±1℃; the meat quality, flavor and muscle oxidative stability were measured on day 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 of postmortem aging. The results showed that malondialdehyde (MDA) content increased in both muscle types; superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px) activities decreased, as did total antioxidative capacity (T‐AOC). LD muscle showed lower MDA content and antioxidative activity than BF muscle. Meat quality analyses indicated that aging increased the lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) values of meat while improving its tenderness. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry results showed that volatile flavor compounds were more abundant in LD muscle than in BF muscle. As the aging time extended, relative contents of aldehyde and alcohol increased in both muscles. The key flavor compounds during postmortem aging including heptanal, octanal, nonanal, and decanal were screened by relative odor activity value (ROAV), and the content of key flavor compounds showed the trend of increasing, which were usually associated with fresh green grass, nutty, and fat descriptors. In conclusion, the oxidative muscles displayed better antioxidative capacity, and postmortem aging altered the oxidative stability of lamb muscle, which affected the meat quality and flavor. Practical Application: Meat aging is an important strategy to improve the quality of various meat traits (including flavor). The results of this work could be of interest to meat professionals who will be able to apply in actual production by choosing the best aging time based on flavor and meat quality for different muscle parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to assess the effect of dietary arginine supplementation on muscle structure and meat characteristics of lambs also considering lipid oxidation products and to contribute to reveal its mechanisms of action using tandem mass tagging (TMT) proteomics. Eighteen lambs were allocated to two dietary treatment groups: control diet or control diet with the addition of 1% L-arginine. The results revealed that dietary arginine supplementation increased muscle fibre diameter and cross-sectional area (P < 0.05), which was attributable to protein deposition, as evidenced by increased RNA content, RNA/DNA ratio, inhibition of apoptotic enzyme activity, and alterations in the IGF-1/Akt signaling pathway (P < 0.05). In addition, dietary arginine elevated pH 24h , a * values, and IMF content, decreased shear force value and backfat thickness (P < 0.05), as well as decreased the formation of lipid oxidation products involved in meat flavor including hexanal, heptanal, octanal, nonanal and 1-octen-3-ol by increasing the antioxidant capacity of the muscle (P < 0.05). The proteomics results suggested that seven enrichment pathways may be potential mechanisms by which arginine affected the muscle structure and meat characteristics of lambs. In summary, arginine supplementation in lamb diets provides a safe and effective way to improve meat quality, and antioxidant capacity of muscle of lamb. [Display omitted] • Arg supplementation increased muscle fibre diameter and cross-sectional area of lambs. • Arg supplementation increased a * and decreased shear force values of lambs. • Arg reduced lipid oxidation products by increasing antioxidant capacity of muscle. • Arg supplementation altered IGF-1/Akt pathway and reduced apoptotic enzyme activity. • TMT proteomics revealed the mechanisms of action of dietary Arg supplementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proteomic analysis on biceps femoris in Sunit lamb under different feeding regimes. • The flavor index of the PF lamb was better than that of the CF lamb. • Lamb flavor pathways mainly involve the anabolism of amino acids and sugars. In order to explore the molecular mechanism of the effect of feeding regimes on lamb flavor, biceps femoris muscle samples from pasture-fed groups (PF) and concentrate-fed groups (CF) were chosen, and tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling combined with mass spectrometry (MS) was performed to find associations between flavor indicators and proteome profiles. The content and composition of amino acids and volatile flavor substances were better in the PF compared to the CF, with higher levels of some beneficial flavor components such as Arg, Pro Pentanal, Heptanal, Octanal, 1-octen-3-ol and 2,3-Octanedione. About 82 differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) were identified. The Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis indicated that the pathways that may be associated with lamb flavor are focused on amino acid anabolism. These results provide a basis for further understanding of the molecular mechanisms of proteins in meat flavor regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]