PSVI-25 - Feeding increasing levels of yerba mate in lambs: Effects on fatty acid profile, and physical characteristics meat.

The presence of secondary metabolites in the structure of natural antioxidants makes them an alternative for animal feed, which allows modifying the composition of the meat, thus contributing to people's health. For this reason, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of yerba mate extract (YME) on lamb feed as a natural antioxidant in the fatty acid profile and physical traits of meat of 36 lambs fed for 53 days, fed with corn silage and concentrate in the proportion 40:60, respectively. The treatments followed the randomized block design, with a control group without YME (0%) and three groups with 1, 2, and 4% of YME inclusion in the dry matter (DM). Samples were collected from the Longissimus thoracis (LT), muscle for quality analysis and composition. All data were analyzed using a MIXED model with orthogonal contrasts. We found that the inclusion of YME did not affect significantly the characteristics of the pH, total lipids and color general (P = 0.192), although the use of YME don’t affect the parameters normal in the meat. Nevertheless, the use of YME improved the value of b* (P = 0.004), showing a yellowness coloration in the meat of the lambs. Likewise, changed the proportion of branched-chain fatty acids (BCFA; P = 0.009) and the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA; P = 0.030) exhibited a diet effect for the group with 4% YME. This is revealing result, since these fatty acids have been associated with a decrease in cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the addition of up to 4% YME improves the composition and general acceptance of lamb meat, recommended for use in animal feed.