Effect of technical cashew nut shell liquid on growth, physicochemical and fatty acid composition of lamb meat

The cashew nut shell liquid is one natural antioxidant rich in phenolic lipids, and when detoxified (technical CNSL or tCNSL), it can be added as a natural antioxidant and energy source in the diets of ruminants. The tCNSL was added to the lambs' diet replacing ground corn to evaluate its effect on meat quality. A total of 40 Dorper × Santa Inês crossbred male lambs with a mean age of five months and initial body weight of 27.0 ± 0.5 kg were distributed in a randomized blocks design with four treatments [tCNSL inclusion at 0 (control), 0.75; 1.5 % and 2.25 % in dry matter (DM)] with 10 lambs per treatment. The tCNSL showed high (P < 0.05) antioxidant activity. Adding the tCNSL in lamb diet up to 1.5 % of DM improved the DMI, energy intake and growth performance of the lambs (P ≤ 0.05). The redness coloration and saturation index, the concentrations of vaccenic acid and the sum of trans-fatty acids of the meat increased linearly (P ≤ 0.05) by tCNSL inclusion in lamb diets. The lamb meat concentrations of oleic and rumenic acid ∑MUFAcis and ∑MUFA/∑SFA ratio reduced linearly (P ≤ 0.05), and hypocholesterolemic and hypercolesterolemic (h: H) ratio tended to be linearly reduced (P ≤ 0.10) due tCNSL diets inclusion. The inclusion of tCNSL in lamb diets did not affect (P > 0.05) the total fatty acids intake, feeding efficiency, meat quality parameters, such as pH, cooking loss, color indexes lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*), water holding capacity (WHC) and shear force (WBSF) and chemical composition (moisture, dry matter and crude ash). The tCNSL feed supplements are an alternative to synthetic additives in the lamb diet. Dietary tCNSL supplementation at 0.75 % in the diet of lambs, replacing ground corn, improves DMI, energy intake, performance, and meat coloration. In addition, the inclusion of the tCNSL changes the profile of fatty acids in meat because it increases vaccenic acid and consequently ∑MUFAtrans, and reduces ∑MUFAcis, h:H index and ∑MUFA of meat of the lamb.