Carcass characteristics, meat quality, and functional compound deposition in sheep fed diets supplemented with Astragalus membranaceus by-product

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of Astragalus by-product (ABP) on carcass characteristics, internal organ development, meat quality, and functional compound deposition in sheep. Twenty-four Doper x Small Tail Han female lambs (6–7 months of age; 29.07 ± 2.28 kg initial body weight) were randomly assigned to one of three treatments for a 47 d feeding period. Treatments consisted of dietary supplementation with 0 %, 10 %, or 15 % of ABP (dry matter basis). Bioactive compounds in ABP, liver, and muscle were analysed by the UHPLC-QTOF-MS procedure. Dietary ABP supplementation did not affect (P > 0.05) carcass characteristics and internal organ development indicators except kidney weight which increased linearly (P = 0.019). ABP inclusion had no effect (P > 0.05) on moisture, crude protein (CP), and ash composition in the Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle. Fat content in the LD muscle decreased (P 0.05). The results suggest that dietary inclusion of ABP can be used as a dietary option to develop novel functional meat that may confer certain health benefits to consumers. It provided a firm basis for the scientific exploration of the pharmacological efficacy of herbal medicine by-products.