Effects of licorice seedling and rumen biobuffer agents on growth performance and meat quality of Tan sheep

WANG Qian; WU Shuang; LIU Tong-gao; YANG Chong; WANG Jin; HU Xue-jiao; LIU Chun; REN Yu-jia

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2024.21.005

Abstract：The experiment aimed to investigate the effects of adding licorice seedling to roughage and rumen biobuffer agents to pelleted diets on the growth performance and meat quality of Tan sheep.A total of 90 male Tan sheep aged three months with a body weight of(19.0±2.5)kg were randomly divided into three groups with five replicates per group and six sheep per replicate.The ratio of concentrate to roughage in the diet was 70:30.The control group was fed a basal diet,the test group Ⅰ was fed a basal diet plus 25％licorice seedling(replacing an equivalent amount of corn stalk),and test group Ⅱ was fed a basal diet plus 25％licorice seedling plus 0.5％rumen biobuffer agent.There was a 15-day pre-test period and a 90-day formal experimental period.The results showed that there were no significant differences in the growth performance of Tan sheep among the groups(P＞0.05).The concentrations of albumin(ALB)and the eye muscle area in test group Ⅱ were significantly higher than those in the other groups(P＜0.05),and the activities of alkaline phosphatase(AKP)and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)in test group Ⅰ were significantly higher than those in the control group(P＜0.05).The concentrations of methionine and cysteine in test group Ⅰ were significantly higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05),and the concentrations of total amino acids,glutamic acid,glycine,arginine,aspartic acid,and alanine in the test groups were all higher than those in the control group(P＞0.05).The study indicates that adding licorice seedling and rumen biobuffer agents to the diet does not affect the growth performance of Tan sheep,but can improve the antioxidant capacity,amino acid content and meat quality of Tan sheep to a certain extent.