Concentration of a-Tocopherol in the Lamb Meat Fed Diets Containing Sunflower Seeds and Vitamin E

The objective of the study is to evaluate the concentration of vitamin E (?-tocopherol), lipid oxidation and sensory analysis of fresh and mature meat from Ile de France sheep that were fed with follows diets: D1) sugarcane + concentrate without sunflower seeds; D2) sugarcane + concentrate with sunflower seeds; D3) sugarcane + concentrate without sunflower seeds plus 1000 mg vitamin E/kg diet dry matter (DM); and D4) sugarcane + concentrate with sunflower seeds and 1000 mg vitamin E/kg diet DM. Vitamin E and lipid oxidation were affected by the diet and maturation time. Sensory analysis of meat lamb fed with the diet D1 showed that color was affected by maturation time, while the meat fed with the diet D4, the maturation time affected the parameters color and global acceptability. It was concluded that the diet containing sugarcane and concentrate with sunflower seeds plus vitamin E had a favorable impact on the scores attributed to the meat by the panel, indicating good acceptance of mature lamb meat. However, lipid oxidation was not observed when vitamin E was added to the diet.