Supplementation of Nigella sativa seeds to Barbarine lambs raised on low- or high-concentrate diets: Effects on meat fatty acid composition and oxidative stability

Twenty-eight Barbarine male lambs were used to investigate the effect of dietary Nigella sativa seeds (NSS) on meat fatty acids and oxidative stability in two different feeding systems (high- or low-concentrate). Dietary treatments were planned to offer: 70% barley hay and 30% concentrate (LC); LC + 12 g/day of NSS (LCN); 30% barley hay and 70% concentrate (HC); HC + 12 g/day of NSS (HCN). NSS increased intramuscular fat only in the low-concentrate system (P = 0.039); accordingly, the content of 14:0, c-9 14:1, t-9 18:1, t-11 18:1 and both individual and sum of odd and branched chain fatty acids were greater in LCN than LC meat. TBARS in raw meat increased from 0 to 3 days of refrigerated storage regardless NSS supplementation. From 3 to 6 days, TBARS further increased only in the meat from lambs not receiving NSS. At 6-days storage, TBARS were lower (P < 0.05) in the meat of lambs receiving NSS compared to the meat of lambs not receiving NSS.