147944 20260217205542.0 doi 10.3390/ani14243629 sideral 141424 ART-2024-141424 eng Bottegal, Diego Nicolas Dietary Inclusion of Carob Pulp (Ceratonia siliqua L.) Does Not Replace the Antioxidant Effect of Vitamin E in Lambs’ Meat to Lengthen Shelf-Life 2024 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of dietary carob pulp (Cp, Ceratonia siliqua L.) and vitamin E (Vit E) on the quality and shelf-life of light lamb meat stored for a maximum of 15 days under modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). Forty-eight lambs (half females and half entire males, 25.3 ± 0.3 kg of body weight and 83 ± 5.8 days old) were randomly selected and slaughtered after an experimental fattening period with a 2 × 2 factorial design: 0 vs. 20% Cp and 40 vs. 300 IU of Vit E/kg of diet for 41 days. The carcass traits, fatty acid (FA) profile, antioxidant content, colour, lipid oxidation, and microbial count in the meat were evaluated. Scarce interactions between Cp and Vit E were observed on most of the variables studied. The dietary inclusion of Cp did not affect carcass traits (p > 0.05) but produced minor changes in the content of branched FA and reduced the α-tocopherol content in the meat (p < 0.05), while no impact was observed on discolouration or lipid oxidation (p > 0.05). High Vit E supplementation increased the yellowness of caudal fat and the α-tocopherol content, which limited discolouration and lipid oxidation (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the High Vit E diet (without Cp) controlled the psychrotrophic bacterial count after 15 days of storage. At slaughter, males were heavier than females but had lower carcass dressing (p < 0.05). The lambs’ sex had minor impacts on the quality and shelf-life of meat. This study demonstrated that there is no synergistic interaction between Cp and Vit E on lamb meat quality and shelf-life. Including 20% of Cp in lamb diets is feasible without impairing meat quality. Nevertheless, supplementation with 300 IU of Vit E/kg of feed is essential to extend the shelf-life of meat stored under MAP. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/801586/EU/International Doctoral Programme for Talent Attraction to the Campus of International Excellence of the Ebro Valley/IberusTalent This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 801586-IberusTalent info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es 2.7 2024 VETERINARY SCIENCES 21 / 170 = 0.124 2024 Q1 T1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE 15 / 86 = 0.174 2024 Q1 T1 0.733 2024 Veterinary (miscellaneous) 2024 Q1 Animal Science and Zoology 2024 Q1 5.2 2024 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Álvarez-Rodríguez, Javier Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-6445-849X Latorre, María Ángeles Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-3005-2675 Lobón, Sandra (orcid)0000-0002-7829-1448 2008 700 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Produc.Animal Cienc.Ali. Área Producción Animal 14, 24 (2024), 3629 [18 pp.] Animals (Basel) Animals 2076-2615 1175671 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/147944/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2767366 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/147944/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:147944 articulos driver 2026-02-17-20:36:42 ARTICLE