Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Ph.D. Student, Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, University of Birjand. , Birjand, Iran
2 Professor, Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran.
3 Professor, Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
Abstract
The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of feeding of saffron petal (SP) on performance, blood parameters and antioxidant status of blood and meat of Afshri male lambs. Eighteen male Afshari lambs aged 4 to 5 months with an average initial weight of 17±2.5 kg, were fed with one of the three experimental diets in a completely randomized design. Experimental diets were included as 1: control (basal diet without SP), 2: basal diet with the addition of 1.5% SP and 3: basal diet with the addition of 3% SP (DM basis). The experimental period was 84 days and lambs were slaughtered at the end of period. The results showed that the addition of SP to the diet had no effect on feed intake, daily weight gain and nutrient digestibility. The amount of plasma urea in lambs fed with both levels of SP and the amount of plasma glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride in lambs fed with 3% of SP significantly decreased (P<0.05). In lambs fed with 3% SP, the total antioxidant capacity and activity of glutathione peroxidase enzyme in blood and LL muscle was increased and the amount of malondialdehyde in the blood and LL muscle was decreased (P<0.05). But, the activity of superoxide dismutase in the blood was not affected. Overall, the results of this research showed that adding 3% of SP to the diet of fattening lambs without affecting the performance, improved the antioxidant status of the blood and increased the shelf life durability of meat.
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