Sensory quality of meat from Santa Inês lambs fed with guava (Psidium guajava L.) agroindustrial by-product

Abstract The aim of this work was to determine the sensory quality (flavour, odour, tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability) and physicochemical characteristics of meat from Santa Inês lambs fed with diets containing guava agroindustrial by-product (GAB). Was used samples of the longissimus lumborum of 40 entire males with an average slaughter weight of 32.0 kg, after approximately 105 days in a feedlot. Animals were randomly placed into four treatments (10 replicates per treatment) and fed with different levels of GAB (0, 20, 40 and 60%). Among the attributes examined, only odour was not influenced by the GAB. Inclusion of 40% GAB in diets (in place of corn) produced meat which satisfied consumer demands in terms of fresh colour, although with less intense flavour and tenderness. Although the factors juiciness and overall acceptability did not differ among the highest levels of GAB, we recommend to use GAB addition of up to 40% to avoid compromising on animal performance and consumer sensory characteristics.