Fat spectro-colorimetric characteristics of lambs switched from a low to a high dietary carotenoid level for various durations before slaughter

This study investigated the changes in fat reflectance spectrum characteristics and color in lambs switched from a low to a high dietary carotenoid level for various durations before slaughter. Six treatments, feeding a high dietary carotenoid level for 0, 15, 30, 45, 60 or 75 days before slaughter, were compared in individually indoor penned lambs. Each treatment used 10 Romane lambs; feeding management ensured similar growth pattern and carcass weight for all the treatment groups. There was a change in reflectance spectrum characteristics and yellowness of subcutaneous fat as early as 15 days after the switch. Mean concentration of carotenoid pigments and yellowness of subcutaneous fat increased linearly with the duration of the high dietary carotenoid level. In perirenal fat, the change in reflectance spectrum characteristics was observed as early as 15 days after the switch, but the response to the duration of the high dietary carotenoid level was curvilinear.