In the present study, the Pearson coefficients between intramuscular fat (IMF) content and oleic and linoleic acids were highly significant (respectively for oleic and linoleic: r = 0.752, p = 0.001; r = −0.797, p < 0.001).
Among PUFA, linoleic acid (C18:2 c9 c12) showed a trend towards a higher proportion in meat from Tara lambs as compared to Control lambs ( p = 0.08).
It is interesting to note that Enterobacteriaceae population showed a dramatically decrease in meat from T and M-fed lambs, which was maintained till 7 days, in contrast to control, which exhibited an increasing trend during storage.