FOOD SCIENCE ›› 2020, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (11): 36-42.doi: 10.7506/spkx1002-6630-20190625-319

• Basic Research • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Dietary Linseed Supplementation on Muscle Fiber Characteristics and Meat Quality of Sunit Sheep

HOU Puxin, HOU Yanru, BAI Yanping, SU Lin, ZHAO Lihua, BAO Lege, JIN Ye   

  1. (1. College of Food Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China; 2. Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, Urad Middle Banner 015300, China)
  • Online:2020-06-15 Published:2020-06-22

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary linseed supplementation on the histological profile of Longissimus dorsi muscle (LD) and meat quality of Sunit sheep. Methods: Totally 20 three-month-old sheep weighing (16.94 ± 1.29) kg with good body condition were randomly divided into control and linseed groups. The linseed group was fed the control diet with 8% replacement of concentrate by linseeds and the experiment lasted for 3 months. The results indicated that the diameter of muscle fibers and the cross-sectional areas of type I and IIB muscle fibers in the linseed group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.01), whereas the percentage number and area of various muscle fiber types were not statistically significant between both groups (P > 0.05). The linseed group demonstrated a significant increase in the relative expression of MyHCI and MyHCIIx genes (P < 0.01) and an increase in the relative expression of MyHCIIa and MyHCIIb genes (P > 0.05). Skeletal muscle from the linseed group had a statistically significant higher activity of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and lower activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (P < 0.01). Compared with the control group, a significant increase in pH0 (P < 0.05) and a decrease in L* value, pH24 and shearing force (P < 0.01) were observed for The linseed group. There was no significant difference in other meat quality indicators between both groups. Conclusion: The dietary linseed supplementation has a positive effect on improving the color and tenderness of meat by promote the conversion of muscle fiber from glycolytic to oxidized, decreasing the diameter and cross-sectional areas of muscle fiber.

Key words: Sunit sheep, linseed, muscle fiber characteristics, enzyme activity, meat quality

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