Growth rate, carcass characteristics and meat quality of growing lambs fed buckwheat or maize silage

Objective This study evaluated inclusion of buckwheat silage to the diet of growing lambs in terms of meat quality as compared to maize silage. Methods Buckwheat, rich in total phenols (TP, 33 g/kg dry matter [DM]), was harvested at the end of the milk stage and ensiled in 40 kg plastic bags after wilting (294 g/kg silage DM). A total of 18 growing lambs (21.6±1.2) were individually fed isonitrogenous and isoenergetic total mixed rations (TMR) for 75 d that either contained buckwheat or maize silage at DM proportions of 0.50. At the end of feeding trail all lambs were slaughtered to assess carcass characteristics and meat quality. Results Buckwheat silage increased (p<0.01) the DM intake of lambs as compared to maize silage, but had no effects (p>0.05) on live weight gain and feed efficiency. Carcass weight, dressing percentage, meat pH, water holding capacity, cooking loss, shear force (kg/cm2), and total viable bacteria count of meat did not differ (p>0.05) between the treatments. However, TP content of meat increased (p<0.001) by feeding buckwheat TMR. Feeding buckwheat TMR also decreased (p