Sensory characteristics of meat and composition of carcass fat from sheep fed diets containing various levels of broiler litter

The effect of high levels of broiler litter in the diets of sheep on sensor y characteristics and composition of fat in mutton was evaluated. Thirty-si x South African Mutton Merino wethers weighing ca. 41 kg were randomly allo cated to four treatment diets containing 0, 28, 56 or 85% broiler litter. A ll wethers were slaughtered at a target body mass of 55 kg. Dressing percen tage was calculated and the composition of fatty acids in the subcutaneous fat was analysed. An analytical sensory panel evaluated sensory characteris tics of carcass samples and loin sample characteristics. High sensory score s (7 out of 10) were obtained for all dietary treatments. Compared to the o ther treatments, a high inclusion level (85%) of broiler litter in the diet reduced (p < 0.05) the flavour and overall acceptability of sensory sample s, decreased concentrations of myristic acid (C14:0) and margaric acid (C17 :0) in subcutaneous fat and increased linolenic acid (C18:3) concentrations . It was concluded that the inclusion of broiler litter in diets for sheep at levels of up to 56% should not adversely affect the sensory characterist ics of the meat, but higher inclusion levels might have a slight adverse af fect on subcutaneous fat composition and sensory characteristics.