This study investigated dietary regimens on Hu sheep meat quality. Compared to control, supplementary feeding (SF) increased body weight (63.83 %), eye muscle area (89.72 %), and dry matter content (5.99 %) (P < 0.01), while restricted feeding (RF) impaired meat color and reduced intramuscular fat (38.89 %) (P < 0.01). SF elevated concentrations of 67 volatile flavor compounds versus control and 48 compounds versus RF, enhancing sweet- and fatty-flavor associated volatiles. Control and RF exhibited similar flavor profiles. Correlation analysis identified 90 significant associations between fatty acids/amino acids and key volatile compounds. RF upregulated lipolytic enzymes ATGL and CPT1A (P < 0.05), decreased muscle fatty acid content, reduced muscle fiber size (8.85 %), and increased fiber density (113.50 %) (P < 0.01). Conversely, SF activated the AMPK-mTOR-S6K1 pathway, enhancing protein synthesis and amino acid levels. These findings demonstrate that dietary interventions modulate flavor precursors through metabolic pathways, providing scientific support for developing high-quality mutton products.
Sun et al. (Tue,) studied this question.