Replacing cereal grains with dried citrus pulp in crossbred Zell-Afshari fattening male lambs: effects on growth performance, internal organs, meat oxidative stability, and blood metabolites

The use of low cost alternative feedstuff sources such as citrus pulp for animal husbandry , may result in improved performance and animal production. This study aimed to investigate the impact of different levels of dried citrus pulp (DCP) on the productive performance ,carcass , meat quality and blood biochemical parameters in fattening male lambs. Sixteen crossbred Zell-Afshari lambs (28±1.0 kg body weight) were randomly assigned to one of four groups, in a completely randomized design over 75 days. The dietary treatments were a control diet and a control diet supplemented with 10, 20, or 30% of DCP. The lambs fed with a 30% DCP diet exhibited increased feed intake, moreover, these lambs had higher FCR than the control groups (P <0.05), whereas the FCR was similar in the other treatment groups.(P <0.05). In terms of carcass traits, the inclusion of DCP in the diets of lambs compared to the control group led to a decrease in the weight of abdominal fat (P <0.05). In comparison with the control group, the lambs receiving 10, 20, or 30% DCP in their diets had decreased linearly blood peroxide and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) indices, while their meat ash concentration had increased linearly(P <0.05). In contrast, the inclusion of DCP in the diets of lambs had no significant effects on serum biochemistry and liver enzyme activity. In conclusion, replacing cereal grains with 10% or 20% DCP demonstrated beneficial effects on some carcass traits and meat oxidative stability in Zell-Afshari fattening male lambs.

Replacing cereal grains with dried citrus pulp in crossbred Zell-Afshari fattening male lambs: effects on growth performance, internal organs, meat oxidative stability, and blood metabolites Keywords:

carcass , Citrus by-product , Fattening lambs , Growth , meat quality