Dietary citrus pulp reduces lipid oxidation in lamb meat

This study investigated the effect of replacing cereal concentrateswith high levels of dried citrus pulp in the diet on lamb meat oxidative stability. Over 56 days, lambs were fed a barley-based concentrate (Control) or concentrates in which 24% and 35% dried citrus pulp were included to partially replace barley (Citrus 24% and Citrus 35%,respectively). Meat was aged under vacuum for 4 days and subsequently stored aerobically at 4 °C. The Control diet increased the redness, yellowness and saturation of meat after blooming (P < 0.01). Regardless of the level ofsupplementation, dietary dried citrus pulp strongly reduced meat lipid oxidation over 6 days of aerobic storage(P < 0.001), while colour parameters did not change noticeably over storage and their variation rate was notaffected by the diet. In conclusion, replacing cereals with dried citrus pulp in concentrate-based diets mightrepresent a feasible strategy to naturally improve meat oxidative stability and to promote the exploitation ofthis by-product.