*3.3. Meat Quality*

Meat pH, cooking loss and drip loss increased linearly (*p* < 0.05) as the dose of HM in the diet increased (Table 3). The WBSF of meat decreased linearly as the level of HM in the diet increased (*p* = 0.02). On the other hand, no significant changes were observed in meat colour variables, with the exception of yellowness (b\*)*,* which decreased as dietary HM dose increased (*p* = 0.04). The chemical composition (moisture, protein, fat and ash) of the meat was not affected by the dose of HM in the diet.


**Table 3.** Meat characteristics of lambs supplemented with a polyherbal mixture 1 during the final fattening period.

1 Peptasan® based on *Saccharum officinarum, Balanites roxburghi* and, *Acacia concinna*. WBSF—Warner-Bratzler shear force; CON—basal diet without polyherbal mixture (HM); HM1—basal diet + 1 g of HM kg−<sup>1</sup> of DM; HM2—basal diet + 2 g of HM kg−<sup>1</sup> of DM; HM3—basal diet + 3 g of HM kg−<sup>1</sup> of DM; EEM—standard error of the treatment means; a,b—means within a row with different subscripts differ when *p* ≤ 0.05.
