Lipid Oxidation and Colour Stability of Lamb and Yearling Meat (Muscle Longissimus Lumborum ) from SheepSupplemented with Camelina-Based Diets after Short-,Medium-, and Long-Term Storage.

This study investigated the impact of feeding pelleted diets containing camelina ( Camelina sativa L. Crantz) hay (CAHP) or camelina meal (CAMP) as a supplement compared with a control pellet (CONP) diet, without vitamin E fortification. The fatty acid profile, retail colour, and lipid oxidative stability of lamb and yearling meat ( m. longissimus lumborum ) stored for short-, medium-, or long-periods (2 days (fresh), 45 days and 90 days) under chilled to semi-frozen conditions were determined. The CAMP diet altered key fatty acids ( p < 0.05) in a nutritionally beneficial manner for human health compared to the other diets, with increased total omega-3, decreased omega-6 fatty acids and decreased omega-6/omega-3 ratio of muscle. Muscle vitamin E concentration was lower ( p < 0.05) for both camelina diets (CAMP and CAHP) when compared with the CONP diet, with the average concentrations less than 1 mg/kg muscle for all three treatments. Animal type and storage length were factors that all affected ( p < 0.05) colour and lipid oxidative stability of meat. These results emphasise the importance of vitamin E concentration in meat stored for extended periods under semi-frozen conditions to maintain desirable meat colour during retail display, and to avoid off-flavour development of the cooked meat.