PSVII-7 Fatty acid profile is not affected by feeding finishing cattle essential oils and/or benzoic acid

Abstract

Abstract Fatty acid profile of beef subcutaneous fat was evaluated in two separate studies where blends of essential oils and/or benzoic acid were fed to finishing steers. Study 1 had sixty-eight finishing steers that were fed 1 of 5 finishing diets: no additional supplement, monensin/tylosin, essential oil blend #1 (Victus Liv, DSM Nutritional Products), benzoic acid (VevoVitall, DSM Nutritional Products), or a combination of essential oil blend #1 and benzoic acid. Study 2 had seventy-six finishing steers that were fed 1 of 7 finishing diets: no additional supplement, monensin/tylosin, essential oil blend #1, essential oil blend #2 (Fortissa Fit 45, Provimi Canada), benzoic acid, a combination of essential oil blend #1 and benzoic acid, or a combination of essential oil blend #2 and benzoic acid. All feed additives were supplemented according to manufacturer instructions, which were 33 mg/kg of monensin, 11 mg/kg of tylosin, 1 g/steer/day of essential oil blend #1, 4 g/steer/day of essential oil blend #2, and 0.5% inclusion level (on a DM basis) of benzoic acid. Fatty acid profile was determined on a 4 cm × 1 cm × 1 cm sample of subcutaneous fat from the 12th rib location of each steer. Fatty acid methyl esters were used to identify and quantify individual fatty acids using gas chromatography. Data were analyzed separately for the two studies, using a RCBD with fixed effect of treatment, and random effects of block (allocation weight of the steers) and the interaction of treatment and block. Total saturated fatty acids (SFA), total monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), MUFA:SFA, PUFA:SFA, and n6:n3 were not different (P > 0.09) between treatments for either study. Overall, it was concluded that supplementation of essential oils and/or benzoic acid did not affect fatty acid profile of beef subcutaneous fat.