Tissue composition of the leg and meat quality of sheep fed castor bean hulls in replacement of tifton hay

The effects of replacing Tifton hay with castor bean hulls (0, 33, 66 and 100%) on the leg tissue composition, chemical composition, physicochemical parameters and sensorial traits of sheep meat were studied. A total of 28 non-castrated sheep averaging seven months in age with an average initial weight of 19.5±4.3 kg were assigned to a randomized block design with four treatments and seven replicates and were slaughtered after 70 days of confinement. At slaughter, body weight and leg, muscle and bone weights decreased linearly, whereas the muscle-to-bone ratio increased linearly according to the treatments. There was a quadratic effect on yellow intensity (maximum of 8.05 with replacement of 54.5%) and the percentage of cooking losses (minimum of 33.8% with replacement of 45.17%). The treatment employed did not affect either the chemical composition or sensorial traits of the lamb meat. Although replacing Tifton hay with castor bean hulls alters the tissue composition of the leg as well as some physicochemical parameters of the meat, the sensory analysis indicated good acceptability of the meat, regardless of the inclusion of this byproduct.