Meat quality of beef cattle offered grass silage and legume / cereal wholecrop silage either alone or in combination with grass silage

Abstract

With increasing consumer awareness of meat quality and the relationship between dietary fat and the incidence of diseases, such as coronary heart disease, research has been undertaken to manipulate fatty acid (FA) profiles in beef. Diet has been shown to influence FA composition of meat (Scollan et al, 2006). For example meat from finishing cattle offered red clover (legume) silage in comparison to grass silage had significantly increased polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) concentrations and a decreased n-6:n-3 ratio (3.28:2.30). The aim of this experiment was to assess the effect of offering lupins/triticale, vetch/barley and grass silage to continental beef finishing cattle on instrumental meat quality and FA composition.