Animal Feed Science and Technology 147 (2008) 223–246 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Review Alternative feed resources and their effects on the quality of meat and milk from small ruminants  V. Vasta a , A. Nudda b , A. Cannas b , M. Lanza c , A. Priolo c,∗ a Dottorato di Ricerca in Produzioni Foraggere Mediterranee, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze 13, 90128 Palermo, Italy b Dipartimento di Scienze Zootecniche, University of Sassari, via E. De Nicola 9, 07100 Sassari, Italy c DACPA Sezione di Scienze delle Produzioni Animali, University of Catania, Via Valdisavoia 5, 95123 Catania, Italy Abstract The present paper reviews the quality of meat and milk from sheep and goats offered alternative feeds as a replacement for concentrates. Legume seeds and pods, shrubs, local agro-industrial by- products or novel pasture species are cheap and widely available in Mediterranean countries and are suitable for sheep and goat nutrition. Many of these alternative feed resources (AFR) contain secondary compounds, such as tannins. Tannin-containing feeds result in meat of a lighter colour and tend to increase milk yield and protein content, probably because they protect dietary proteins from ruminal degradation. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content in kid meat can be increased by feeding animals chopped cactus cladodes. Grazing saltbush (Atriplex spp.) preserves lamb meat colour stability, suggesting that the high level of vitamin E in these shrubs protects myoglobin from oxidation. When olive cake silage is included in lamb or ewe diets, linoleic and oleic acid contents may increase in meat and milk fat, respectively. The appearance of terpenes in sheep and goat milk is Abbreviations: AFR, alternative feed resources; CLA, conjugated linoleic acid; CT, condensed tannins; FA, fatty acids; MUFA, mono-unsaturated fatty acids; PUFA, poly-unsaturated fatty acids; SFA, saturated fatty acids; AIBP, agro-industrial by-products; ELC, extruded linseed cake  This article is part of the special issue entitled “Shrubby vegetation and agro-industrial by-products as alternative feed resources for sheep and goats” guest edited by H. Ben Salem, A. Priolo, P. Morand-Fehr and P. Udén. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 095 234497; fax: +39 095 234345. E-mail address: a.priolo@unict.it (A. Priolo). 0377-8401/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2007.09.020