Effect of dietary Tartary buckwheat extract supplementation on growth performance, meat quality and antioxidant activity in ewe lambs.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary Tartary buckwheat extract (TBE) supplementation on animal growth performance, meat quality and antioxidative activity in the Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle of lambs. The results showed that dietary TBE increased body weight, average daily gain, carcass weight, dry matter intake, and digestive organ weight. Dietary TBE had no effect on the pH, color, shear force or intramuscular fat of Longissimus muscle examined, whereas the cooking loss was decreased. The total antioxidative capacity and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPx4) activity of Longissimus muscle were increased in lambs fed TBE. The mRNA contents of superoxide dismutase, catalase, GPx4 and nuclear factor-like-2 factor (Nrf2) did not vary among the groups, and greater protein levels of GPx4 and Nrf2 were observed. Taken together, these results suggest that TBE can be used as a feed ingredient in lamb production to improve its growth performance, and relieve oxidative stress and increase water holding capacity of meat.