Persistence of pasture feeding volatile biomarkers in lamb fats

Recent studies have evidenced volatile biomarkers in ruminant tissues that distinguish between exclusive pasture and exclusive concentrate diets. As ruminants usually alternate these diets, we set out to monitor the persistence of volatile tracers of pasture diet in perirenal fat and caudal subcutaneous fat in lambs (n = 28) fed on pasture and then fattened at increasing levels with concentrate: Four groups of lambs (n = 7) were stall-finished to achieve a final weight gain of 0, 4, 8, and 12 kg, respectively. Thirty nine pasture diet tracers including terpenes, 2,3-octanedione and toluene were found that distinguish between the four different diets in both tissues. According to their clearance rates monitored in the adipose tissues of lambs fattened with different amounts of concentrate, different types of persistence were evidenced. Most of the compounds exhibited a “short” persistence, e.g. 2,3-octanedione and terpenes, while some displayed a “medium” or “long” persistence. Finally, performing discriminant analysis on ratios of tracers from the two adipose tissues enabled the correct differentiation of the four different diets.