Sheep fed sugarcane-based diets: Insights into productivity, carcass traits, longissimus muscle, and milk quality - A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis summarizes the effects of incorporating sugarcane or its by-products into the diet of sheep from various aspects including productivity, carcass characteristics, meat quality of the longissimus muscle, and milk quality. Study differences were defined as random factors while fixed factors accounted for the levels of sugarcane supplementation in the sheep diet. The analysis also examined differences in categorical factors such as sugarcane form (whole, top leaves, bagasse, and residue) and pretreatment methods (untreated, hydrolyzed, and ensiled). Adding sugarcane to the sheep diet showed a significant increase in average daily weight gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) ( P < 0.05). However, there was a significant decrease in hot carcass weight (HCW), cold carcass weight (CCW), and dressing percentage (DP) ( P < 0.05). Color variables, such as redness (a*) and brightness (L*), of sheep meat were higher when fed a sugarcane-based diet provided in the form of whole plant ( P < 0.05). Moreover, there was a significant decrease in lactose and protein concentrations in sheep milk ( P < 0.05) after feeding a sugarcane-based diet. Overall, sugarcane supplementation showed some benefits in sheep productivity variables, but it did not yield the expected results in maintaining carcass characteristics, longissimus muscle, and milk quality.