Meat quality of Tunisian local breed lambs supplemented with olive pomace blocks

Animal feed cost in Tunisia is extremely high and the search for alternative solutions is imperative. In this study, we tested the supplementation of weaned lambs with olive pomace-based blocks to evaluate their effect on meat quality and profitability of lamb fattening. For this purpose, we divided sixteen weaned male lambs of the "Noir de Thibar" breed into two distinct groups of 8 lambs each. The experiment was conducted over a period of 3 months. Each group received 700 g of oat hay/lamb/day and a specific feed supplement: Control group (group C) received 500 g of commercial feed concentrate/lamb/day during the 3 months of the fattening experiment. The set of lambs supplemented with feed blocks (set B) received 200 g of feed blocks containing 32% olive meal and 300 g of feed concentrate/lamb/day. The carcass yield of the control lambs (C) was higher than that of the lambs in the other group. The lambs' consumption of feed blocks resulted in a decrease in the redness and yellowing of the meat they produced. Supplementation with feed blocks as well as feed restriction reduced the concentration of lauric and myristic acids (saturated fatty acids) in the intramuscular fat of the lambs compared to the control group, and lambs fed with feed blocks based on oilcake produced meat with high percentage of oleic acid (monounsaturated fatty acid) compared to lambs consuming contaminated feed concentrates. Keywords: Olive cake, feed blocks, Carcass characteristics, Meat quality, Intramuscular fatty acid