Effects of different proportions of tender Vitex negundo branches and leaves on growth performance,slaughter performance,meat quality,and amino acid content in small-tail Han sheep

YU Ming; QU Qiang; SUN Yabo; BU Weiping; WANG Jingchun; CHENG Bo

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2025.12.004

Abstract：The experiment aimed to investigate the effects of tender Vitex negundo branches and leaves on the growth performance,nutrients apparent digestibility,slaughter performance,meat quality,and muscle amino acid content in small-tail Han sheep.A total of 120 healthy four-month-old healthy and average weight(33.49±1.74)kg male small-tail Han sheep were randomly divided into four groups with three replicates per group and 10 sheep per replicate.The control group received a basal diet(without tender Vitex negundo branches and leaves),while the experimental groups 1,2,and 3 were fed with 10％,15％,and 25％tender Vitex negundo branches and leaves to replace some of the roughage in the basal diet,respectively.The pre-test period was 15 days,and the formal test period was 60 days.The results showed that compared with the control group,the final weight and average daily gain of small-tailed Han sheep in each experimental group were significantly increased(P＜0.05),and the feed to gain ratio was significantly decreased(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the apparent digestibility of crude protein,crude fiber neutral detergent fiber,and acidic detergent fiber in groups 2 and 3 were significantly increased(P＜0.05).The slaughter rate in groups 1 and 2 was significantly higher than those in the control group and group 3(P＜0.05),and the carcass net meat rate of group 2 was significantly higher than that of the other groups(P＜0.05).The concentrations of phenylalanine,valine,threonine,leucine,isoleucine,tyrosine,and histidine in the muscles of the group 3 were significantly higher than those in the other groups(P＜0.05),while the concentrations of tryptophan,alanine,and serine were extremely higher than those in the other groups(P＜0.01).The concentrations of cysteine,aspartic acid and glutamic acid in the muscles of each experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group(P＜0.05).The concentrations of total amino acid,essential amino acid,and umami amino acid in the group 3 were significantly higher than those in the other groups(P＜0.05).The study indicates that tender Vitex negundo branches and leaves can be used as roughage to improve the growth and slaughter performance of small-tailed Han sheep,increase muscle amino acid content,and achieve the best comprehensive effect when added at a dosage of 15％.