Abstract
Simple SummaryBeef is an important natural source of nutrients as well as of bioactive ingredients that improve our health. It is an excellent source of alanine, creatine, carnosine, anserine, and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), which plays an important preventative role in carcinogenic processes. The strategy for rearing and feeding cattle for slaughter should be directed at reducing saturated fatty acid (SFA) in beef fat and/or increasing PUFA, especially n-3. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the influence of breed types on the nutritional and pro-health quality of beef. The experiment was conducted in Poland, on 62 bulls from three breeds: Limousin, Polish Holstein-Friesian, and Polish Holstein-Friesian × Limousin. Bulls were slaughtered at 21–23 months of age, and samples of semimembranosus muscle (300 g) were cut parallel to the muscle axis at 24 h postmortem. It can be concluded that commodity crossbreeding significantly improved the quality of beef, resulting in similar or even better results than purebred cattle.Meat from commercial breed cattle are very often used to crossbreed with dairy breeds. The effect of heterosis is most evident when crossbreeds are genetically different from each other. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the influence of breed types on the nutritional and pro-health quality of beef. The experiment was conducted on 62 bulls from three breeds: Limousin, Polish Holstein-Friesian, and Polish Holstein-Friesian (PHF) × Limousin. During the fattening period, the animals were fed ad libitum using the same diet. Bulls were slaughtered at 21–23 months of age. The meat of PHF × Limousin hybrids was characterized by the lowest level of SFA and the highest content of n-3 PUFA fatty acids, carnosine, and α-tocopherol compared to the values obtained for the Polish Holstein-Friesian and Limousin breeds. In the case of PHF × Limousin hybrids, there was a 6% increase in n-3 PUFA, 21% in carnosine, and 66% in α-tocopherol compared to the Polish Holstein-Friesian breed. Commodity crossbreeding significantly improved the quality of beef analyzed in this study, resulting in similar or even better results than purebred cattle. This meant that beef from the hybrids with PHF was of the best nutritional and health-promoting quality.
Highlights
Breed, gender, and the feeding system are factors that determine, to a large extent, the level of bioactive muscle tissue components, because their contribution is closely correlated with the degree of fat cover, and is a consequence of diet and genotype [1,2]
Greater protein content in muscle tissue was found in the PHF × Limousin hybrids, at 22.41 g/100 g of meat, and the lowest in Polish Holstein-Friesian at 19.4 g/100 g
Commodity crossbreeding significantly improved the quality of beef analyzed in this study, resulting in similar or even better results than purebred cattle
Summary
Gender, and the feeding system are factors that determine, to a large extent, the level of bioactive muscle tissue components, because their contribution is closely correlated with the degree of fat cover, and is a consequence of diet and genotype [1,2]. Beef is an important natural source of alanine, creatine, carnosine, anserine, and polyunsaturated fatty acid, which plays an important preventative role in carcinogenic processes [3,4]. It should be noted that both carnosine and anserine block the production of advanced end-products of glycation, which lead to diseases such as arteriosclerosis, diabetes, cataracts, and Alzheimer’s disease [10,11]. Another important function of these compounds is the formation of complexes with the ions of certain metals, supporting biological activity, which can be exemplified by the inhibition of growth and development of Helicobacter pylori [12]. Cheah et al [21] reported that diets rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) have been shown to have favorable anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular benefits
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