Performance and meat quality of sheep fed different sources of fiber as a supplement to diets based on cactus pear (opuntia ficus indica mill)

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of different fiber sources (forage fiber and non-forage fiber) in diets based on Cactus pear on non-descript breed sheep in Northeastern of Brazil, by analyzing the resultant meat quality. Intact male sheep (21 hing legs), weighing 17.10±0.98 kg, were allocated to three treatments: tifton hay, soybean hull and whole cotton seed. Proximate composition (moisture; total dry extract; mineral matter; fat and protein), physical parameters (pH; cooking loss and shear force) and sensory scores (firmness; juiciness; flavour; odour and colour) did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between the different fiber sources. The experimental results showed high sensory quality for the sheep meat. So the non-forage fiber sources (by-products of agro-industry) adequately replaced the forage fiber. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of different fiber sources (forage fiber and non-forage fiber) in diets based on Cactus pear on non-descript breed sheep in Northeastern of Brazil, by analyzing the resultant meat quality. Intact male sheep (21 hing legs), weighing 17.10±0.98 kg, were allocated to three treatments: tifton hay, soybean hull and whole cotton seed. Proximate composition (moisture; total dry extract; mineral matter; fat and protein), physical parameters (pH; cooking loss and shear force) and sensory scores (firmness; juiciness; flavour; odour and colour) did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between the different fiber sources. The experimental results showed high sensory quality for the sheep meat. So the non-forage fiber sources (by-products of agro-industry) adequately replaced the forage fiber.