Residual Black Wolfberry Fruit Improves Meat Quality of Sheep by Enhancing Immune and Antioxidant Capacity
2025
Pingping Duan | Yuxia Yang | Liangzhong Hou | Ying Wu | Jinlong Li | Congbin Xu | Tongjun Guo
The residual black wolfberry fruit (RBWF), rich in nutrients and active substances, has the potential to serve as an antibiotic alternative. This study evaluated the concentration-dependent effects of RBWF on serum biochemistry, immunity, antioxidant capacity, and meat quality of fattening sheep. Forty 3-month-old sheep were randomly assigned into four groups with 10 replicates in each group and fed experimental RBWF-supplemented diets (0%, 2%, 5%, and 8%). The results showed that RBWF supplementation significantly increased the serum levels of TP, BUN, ALT, AST, IgA, IgM, T-AOC, SOD, and GSH-Px in sheep (<i>p</i> < 0.05), while significantly decreasing the levels of LDH, TG, LDL-c, IgG, and MDA (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Furthermore, dietary RBWF significantly increased the VB1 and IMP levels in the longissimus dorsi muscle of sheep (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and significantly decreased the contents of fat and cholesterol (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Finally, RBWF increased the contents of C20:4 and Glu (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with RBWF can improve the immune and antioxidant capacity of sheep and has a certain effect on improving the flavor of meat, of which 5% is the best.
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