Dietary Fermented Chinese Chive Juice Improves Growth Performance and Reshapes the Fresh Meat Volatile Flavor Profile of Small-Tailed Han Sheep.

This study investigated the effects of fermented Chinese chive (FCC) juice supplementation on growth performance, blood parameters, meat quality, and fresh meat volatile compounds in Small-Tailed Han sheep. Sixty sheep were randomly assigned to a control group (CG; basal diet) or an FCC juice treatment group (TG; basal diet supplemented with 1.0 mL/kg feed offered on an as-fed basis), with three pens per treatment and 10 sheep per pen. FCC juice significantly increased average weight gain (AWG) and average daily gain (ADG) (p < 0.05), whereas carcass traits were not significantly affected (p > 0.05). Most meat quality traits, antioxidant indices, and serum biochemical parameters were unchanged, although serum glucose (GLU) and cholesterol (CHO) decreased in the FCC juice treatment group (p < 0.05). GC × GC-TOF/MS analysis showed that FCC juice altered the volatile profile of fresh sheep meat. Compared with the control group, the FCC juice treatment group showed higher relative contents of aldehydes, ketones, and heterocyclic compounds, but lower contents of hydrocarbons and acids. Seventeen differential volatile compounds were identified using VIP > 1 and FDR-adjusted p < 0.05, with esters representing the major upregulated class. Based on the published odor descriptors of the identified volatile compounds, the FCC juice treatment group showed stronger green and apple-like aroma-associated characteristics. Overall, FCC juice showed a modest positive effect on growth performance and altered the volatile compound profile of fresh sheep meat; however, flavor-related findings should be regarded as preliminary because of the limited slaughter sample size and the absence of direct sensory validation.