Table 13 The longissimus thoracis muscle quality and characteristics of lambs fed CAL (Exp. 3)
Trait | Unit | Treatments | SEM | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | CON (n = 8) | CAL (n = 8) |  | ||
Muscle pH 24 h post mortem | pH units | 5.58 | 5.69 | 0.05 | 0.39 |
L*, lightness | units | 41.4 | 37.0 | 0.88 | 0.01 |
a*, redness | units | 12.1 | 13.2 | 0.31 | 0.09 |
b*, yellowness | units | 4.81 | 4.65 | 0.36 | 0.84 |
Water-holding capacity, % |  | 38.6 | 29.5 | 1.69 | < 0.01 |
Watercontent, % | 72.9 | 73.3 | 0.24 | 0.40 | |
Intramuscular fat content, % | 2.58 | 2.36 | 0.07 | 0.13 | |
Total protein content, % | 23.3 | 23.0 | 0.25 | 0.58 | |
Ash content, % | 1.16 | 1.13 | 0.01 | 0.09 | |
Sensory evaluations | |||||
 Aroma | 1–5 | 4.28 | 4.29 | 0.05 | 0.85 |
 Juiciness | 1–5 | 4.19 | 4.57 | 0.08 | 0.01 |
 Tenderness | 1–5 | 4.15 | 4.36 | 0.07 | 0.13 |
 Flavor | 1–5 | 4.07 | 4.31 | 0.07 | 0.06 |
Subjective visual evaluations | |||||
 Color | 1–8 | 2.38 | 2.56 | 0.10 | 0.38 |
 Marbling | 1–4 | 1.59 | 1.53 | 0.06 | 0.63 |