Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the quality traits and fatty acid profile of beef from Nellore and Angus bulls fed whole shelled corn (WSC) and ground corn plus maize silage (GC) diets. Eighteen Nellore and 18 Angus young bulls [381 ± 12 kg initial body weight (BW) and an average age of 20 ± 1.9 months] were used in a completely randomized design using a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement and were slaughtered at a final BW of 451.5 kg and 545.5 kg, respectively. Twenty–four hours after slaughter, samples of longissimus thoracis muscle were collected for the analysis of lipid oxidation, color, fatty acid profile, shear force, and cooking loss. There was no effect of diet × breed interaction on meat color, lipid oxidation, shear force, and cooking loss. Angus beef had lower shear force (p < 0.05) than Nellore beef and had a greater concentration of linoleic acid and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (p < 0.01). Beef of bulls fed WSC tended to have greater concentration of CLA C18:2c9t11 (p = 0.09), greater concentration of CLA C18:2t10c12 (p = 0.01), and PUFA (p = 0.05), and consequently, higher oxidation levels. Angus bulls produced beef with greater tenderness and PUFA concentration. The results of fatty acid show a possible change in biohydrogenation when animals are fed the WSC diet, reducing lipogenesis, as this diet increases the C18:2t10c12 content.
Highlights
Production of high–quality beef and reduction of risks to human health are objectives of the beef industry to satisfy consumer demands and increase sales
Tenderness is highly affected by myofibrillar proteolysis that remains active in the muscle post–mortem
The enzyme activity of the proteolytic systems can be indirectly measured by the myofibrillar fragmentation index (MFI) and can predict over 50 % of the variation in beef tenderness (Warriss, 2010)
Summary
Production of high–quality beef and reduction of risks to human health are objectives of the beef industry to satisfy consumer demands and increase sales. Different breeds have distinct growth patterns and, different deposition of muscle and adipose tissue, which may affect meat juiciness, flavor, and tenderness (Ladeira et al, 2014). In this sense, as the percentage of Bos indicus genes increases, meat tenderness decreases (Andrade et al, 2010; Barcellos et al, 2017). Beef from breeds with lower intramuscular fat has greater concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and lower concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) (De Smet et al, 2004). Differences in the fatty acid profile between Bos indicus and Bos taurus may be associated to differences in the rumen volume and gastrointestinal tract (Bressan et al, 2011; Rossato et al, 2010) and in the skeletal muscle metabolism (Ladeira et al, 2018). Bressan et al (2016) suggested that Bos indicus cattle have a limited capacity for synthesizing n–3 and n–6 long–chain PUFA
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