Abstract
Twenty five three months old Naimi lambs initially weighed 24.53 +/- 0.40 were used to test the effects of partially replacing barely with 30% or 50% crushed date pits (CDP) supplemented with or without a commercial enzyme mixture (CEM) as a natural growth promoter on carcass characteristics, fat deposition and meat quality merits of Naimi lambs. The lambs were randomly divided equally into five groups; control (0% CDP); T1 (30% CDP); T2 (30% CDP plus CEM); T3 (50% CDP); and T4 (50% of CDP plus CEM). The lambs were slaughtered after three months with final average weight 51.13 +/- 1.69 kg. The carcass characteristics and fat measurements were not significantly different except for liver, body fat and body wall thickness. Liver weights of 50% CDP (T3) group were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of (T2) and (T4) groups. The results showed non-significant differences among the five experimental groups in meat quality merits, but it was noticeable that the control group had lost more liquids on cooking (35.68%) compared to the other four treatment groups. Significant red color was measured for the (T2) group after 1 hour (18.65) but the (T3) group had the highest red color value (21.63) after 24 hours. It is concluded that replacing barely by CDP as a very cheap energy source up to 50% fortified with CEM as a growth promoter in Naimi growing lambs diets resulted in acceptable carcass characteristics and meat quality merits.