Artificial Raising on Milk Replacer and Finishing Diet Did Not Affect Color and Oxidative Stability of Longissimus Lumborum Muscles From Polypay Ram Lambs

Authors

• Koushik Mondal, University of KentuckyFollow
• Surendranath P. Suman, University of KentuckyFollow
• Katherine G. Purvis, University of KentuckyFollow
• Gregg Rentfrow, University of KentuckyFollow
• Donald G. Ely, University of KentuckyFollow
• Brittany E. Davis, United States Department of Agriculture
• Jennifer Weinert-Nelson, United States Department of Agriculture
• Yifei Wang, Ohio State University
• Ana Paula A.A. Salim, University of KentuckyFollow

Abstract

Lamb production traits are affected by pre-weaning management (such as artificial raising on milk replacer) and finishing (forage vs. concentrate) strategies. The objective of the current study was to examine the effects of pre-weaning management and finishing systems on the color and oxidative stability of longissimus lumborum (LL) muscles from ram lambs. Polypay ram lambs were raised conventionally with ewes (CR; n = 10) or artificially on milk replacer (AR; n = 10). After weaning at 60 d, ram lambs in AR and CR were equally divided and randomly allocated to finishing on a high-forage (50:50 forage:concentrate; HF) or a high-concentrate (85:15 concentrate:forage; HC) diet until reaching the live weight of 59 kg. The lambs were harvested, and the LL muscles from both sides of the carcasses (24 h postmortem) were fabricated into 2.5-cm-thick chops. Carcass characteristics were evaluated while harvesting and fabricating. The chops were placed on polystyrene trays, overwrapped with oxygen-permeable polyvinyl chloride film, and randomly assigned to refrigerated storage (2°C) in the darkness for either 0, 3, or 6 d. Instrumental color, R630/580, pH, lipid oxidation, and metmyoglobin reducing ability (MRA) were evaluated at the end of each storage period. Pre-weaning management and finishing system (HF and HC) had no influence (P > 0.05) on the carcass characteristics, surface L* (lightness), a* (redness), b* (yellow-ness), R630/580, pH, and MRA of LL chops. The R630/580 and MRA decreased (P < 0.05) during storage in both CR and AR chops, whereas lipid oxidation and yellowness (b* value) increased (P < 0.05) in both CR and AR during storage. These findings suggested that milk replacer could be employed as a practical strategy in lamb production without com-promising fresh lamb color.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Notes/Citation Information

Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Mondal, et al.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.22175/mmb.18343

Archival?

Archival

Repository Citation

Mondal, Koushik; Suman, Surendranath P.; Purvis, Katherine G.; Rentfrow, Gregg; Ely, Donald G.; Davis, Brittany E.; Weinert-Nelson, Jennifer; Wang, Yifei; and Salim, Ana Paula A.A., "Artificial Raising on Milk Replacer and Finishing Diet Did Not Affect Color and Oxidative Stability of Longissimus Lumborum Muscles From Polypay Ram Lambs" (2025). Animal and Food Sciences Faculty Publications. 126.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/animalsci_facpub/126