A dose-response study relating the concentration of carotenoid pigments in blood and reflectance spectrum characteristics of fat to carotenoid intake level in sheep.

This study was conducted to describe the dose-response curve relating the concentration of carotenoid pigments in plasma and reflectance spectrum characteristics of fat to the carotenoid intake level in sheep, and to investigate the extent to which incorporation of dehydrated alfalfa in the diet affects the reliability of the discrimination between concentrate-fed and pasture-fed lambs based on these measurements. In Exp. 1, 6 treatments were compared in individually penned lambs: feeding 0, 250, 500, 750, 1,000, or 1,250 g/d of dehydrated alfalfa for 60 d before slaughter. Each treatment (T0 to T1,250) consisted of 8 male Romanov x Berrichon lambs with an initial average BW of 24.8 kg (SD 2.6). All lambs received straw for ad libitum intake and T0 to T1,000 lambs received a concentrate free of green vegetative matter in amounts to produce similar ADG in all treatments. In Exp. 2, 33 male Romanov x Berrichon lambs grazed a natural pasture maintained in a leafy green vegetative stage for at least 59 d before slaughter. Initial BW when turning out to pasture was 14.2 kg (SD 2.3). Plasma carotenoid concentration was measured at slaughter by spectrophotometry. Reflectance spectrum, lightness, redness, and yellowness were measured after 24 h of shrinkage in subcutaneous caudal and perirenal fat. The spectra were translated to 0 reflectance at 510 nm, and the integral of the translated spectrum was calculated between 450 and 510 nm (i.e., the range of light absorption by carotenoids). Reflectance measurement was replicated 5 times, from which we calculated the absolute value of the mean integral (AVMI). In Exp. 1, plasma carotenoid concentration at slaughter (PCCS) increased linearly with mean daily carotenoid intake (P < 0.01). Both subcutaneous caudal and perirenal fat AVMI increased linearly (P < 0.01) with mean daily carotenoid intake and PCCS, the slopes of the regressions being greater for perirenal than for subcutaneous caudal fat. The mean PCCS was greater for lambs of Exp. 2 than for lambs on any treatment of Exp. 1 (P < 0.01). We established the dose-response curves relating PCCS and AVMI of subcutaneous and perirenal fat to carotenoid intake level. The combined use of PCCS and of perirenal fat AVMI enabled discrimination of pasture-fed lambs of Exp. 2 from the lambs of Exp. 1 that received up to 500 g/d of dehydrated alfalfa.