Table 3 Effect of feeding BF on meat quality and fatty acid compositions of sheep

Meat quality

 pH_24h

5.25

5.19

5.30

0.04

0.502

 IMF¹, %

11.70^a

9.54^b

9.47^b

0.41

0.023

 Dripping loss, %

8.07^b

8.96^a

7.00^c

0.27

0.001

 Cooking loss, %

23.82^a

25.39^a

18.37^b

1.06

0.003

 WBSF, N

55.78

57.36

56.38

2.62

0.975

 Meat color_24h

  L* (Brightness)

32.77

34.99

36.52

0.92

0.270

  a* (Redness)

8.85

9.21

8.50

0.17

0.279

  b* (Yellowness)

2.68

3.36

2.83

0.32

0.699

Meat fatty acid composition, % of total fatty acids

 Saturated fatty acid (SFA)

  C8:0

1.21

1.40

1.22

0.05

0.248

  C13:0

3.44

4.17

3.59

0.15

0.097

  C16:0

17.37

18.33

16.61

0.41

0.230

  C17:0

3.49

4.19

3.58

0.14

0.063

  C18:0

13.61^b

15.74^a

13.28^b

0.45

0.032

  C22:0

2.11^b

3.72^a

3.41^a

0.29

0.039

 Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA)

  C14:1 cis-9

8.69

9.95

8.83

0.51

0.586

  C16:1 cis-9

0.89

0.10

0.89

0.02

0.133

  C17:1 cis-10

1.11

1.07

1.08

0.01

0.519

  C18:1 cis-9

18.68^a

12.88^b

18.62^a

0.96

0.003

  C20:1 cis-11

1.19^a

0.82^b

1.02^ab

0.06

0.014

 Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)

  C18:2n-6

13.10

12.83

12.94

0.13

0.731

  C20:4n-6

11.47^a

10.33^b

11.40^a

0.21

0.026

  C20:5n-3

1.18

1.23

1.18

0.02

0.487

  C22:6n-3

2.47

2.36

2.34

0.06

0.737

 ΣSFA

41.23^b

47.54^a

41.69^b

0.92

< 0.00

 ΣMUFA

30.57^a

25.72^b

30.45^a

0.74

< 0.001

 ΣPUFA

28.20

26.75

27.86

0.31

0.125

 ΣMUFA/ΣSFA

0.74^a

0.54^b

0.73^a

0.03

< 0.001

 Σn-6 PUFA

24.56

23.16

24.35

0.29

0.099

 Σn-3 PUFA

3.64

3.59

3.52

0.06

0.750

 Σn-6/Σn-3 PUFA

6.76

6.48

6.94

0.13

0.401