Fortification of diets with omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids enhances feedlot performance, intramuscular fat content, fat melting point, and carcass characteristics of Tattykeel Australian White MARGRA lambs

Meat eating quality indices such as intramuscular fat content (IMF) and fat melting point (FMP) of the Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle and the feedlot performance, carcass traits, and commercial wholesale cuts of lot-fed Tattykeel Australian White (TAW) MARGRA lambs as a result of dietary fortification of the diet with omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA) were evaluated. A total of 75 TAW MARGRA lambs at 6 months of age with an average liveweight of 30 ± 1.2 kg were used. The lambs were randomly allocated to the following three dietary treatments of 25 lambs each in a 47-day feeding trial using a completely randomized experimental design: (1) control diet of hay plus pellets without omega-3 oil, (2) hay plus commercial whole grain pellets (MSM) without omega-3 oil, and (3) hay plus pellets fortified with omega-3 oil. It was hypothesized that dietary supplementation with omega-3 fortified pellets will improve feedlot performance, meat-eating quality indices of IMF, FMP, and carcass characteristics. Lot-fed lambs on the MSM whole grain had the highest feed intake of 1.69 kg/day, followed by the control at 1.57 kg/day and the lowest in the omega-3 diet at 1.01 kg/day (p = 0.0001). However, the omega-3 diet had the highest average daily gain of 230 g/head/day (p = 0.0001), indicating the greatest feed efficiency since it had the best growth response with minimal feed intake. Post-slaughter evaluation of the Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle revealed significant treatment variations in IMF (p = 0.0001), FMP (p = 0.0001), pH (p = 0.0380), and wholesale French rack primal cut (p = 0.0001). Strong correlations (p < 0.05) between liveweight, temperature, pH, FMP, and IMF were observed. Similarly, significant correlations between carcass characteristics of total saleable meat yield, lean trim, fat trims, bones, and leg shank were evident (p < 0.05). However, there were no treatment differences in the final liveweight, GR fat depth, hot standard carcass weight, or dressing percentage. The findings indicate that feedlot performance, meat-eating quality traits such as IMF and FMP, and commercial wholesale French rack cuts can be further improved during feedlot finishing of TAW MARGRA lambs through dietary supplementation with omega-3 oils, and hence the tested hypothesis of improved meat quality attributes is partially confirmed.