Growth performance, Meat quality and biochemical blood parameters of Awassi lamb fed diet supplemented with Rosemary oil

This study's objective was to evaluate whether rosemary oil (RO) (Rosmarinus officinalis) influenced the fattening quality of meat by determining 30 Awassi lambs at four months of age (with determined weighs 26±3 kg) Lambs were divided into three groups. In the first group, lambs fed a diet without rosemary oil (control, T1 = 0) while in the second (T2 = 200) and third (T3 = 400) groups, lambs fed a diet including 200 and 400 mg/kg rosemary oil for 60 days. All lambs were slaughtered in an experimental slaughterhouse after the fattening stage. The results demonstrated that Daily weight gain was higher (P ≤ 0.05) of lambs fed RO treatments. The feed conversion ratio was improved in the group of lambs fed a diet with 400 mg/kg rosemary oil. Bigger Rib eye area and low subcutaneous fat (p < 0.05) were recorded for lambs fed diet supplemented with 400mg/kg rosemary oil. The conclusion pH differed from 5.76 to 5.55 after 24 h post-mortem, which was lower than the control group. Rosemary oil had a substantial effect on the lowering of malondialdehyde levels in the liver of lambs. According to the present investigation, rosemary oil had a major impact on the Awassi lambs' liver's reduced MDA concentrations. Hence, it would be advantageous to use rosemary oil in lamb nutrition to improve the quantity and quality of meat. Lambs supplemented with rosemary oil (200 and 400 mg/kg) resulted in a significant decrease in serum ALT activity (P≤0.05) which were 10.6 and 9.4 U/L in comparison to the control group (13.9 U/L).