Work

Dietary yeast culture supplementation improves meat quality and fat metabolism-related gene expression in lambs

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This study evaluated the effects ofdietary yeast culture (YC) supplementation onlamb growth performance and meat quality. After 14days ofacclimation, 20three-month-old lambs (30.46± 1.77kg) were randomly assigned tothe control (CON, basal diet) orYC-supplemented group (0.625g/kgDM) for 50days. While YC induced nosignificant improvements ingrowth parameters (average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and feed togain ratio; P>0.05), itenhanced the longissimus thoracis (LT) meat quality byelevating the L* (lightness) and a* (redness) values (P<0.05), reducing shear force (P<0.05), increasing intramuscular fat (EE, P<0.05), and decreasing crude protein (P<0.05). YC modified fatty acid profiles byreducing atherogenic saturated fatty acids (P<0.05) and elevating C16:1 (P<0.05). Transcriptional analysis revealed the depot-specific regulation: YC suppressed subcutaneous adipogenesis via downregulation ofPPARγ/SREBP-1/HSL and upregulation ofLPL and promoted intramuscular fat deposition inLTthrough the coordinated activation ofPPARγ/SREBP-1/FAS/ACC and inhibition ofLPL (P<0.05). These findings demonstrate the capacity of YC to optimise meat sensory attributes and lipid healthfulness through tissue-specific metabolic modulation, supporting its application as a functional feed additive in precision lamb production.

Source: Czech Journal of Animal Science

DOI: 10.17221/96/2025-cjas