Effects of feeding essential oils and benzoic acid to replace antibiotics on finishing beef cattle growth, carcass characteristics, and sensory attributes

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the effects of feeding essential oils, benzoic acid, or both, as a replacement for monensin and tylosin, on finishing cattle growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, and sensory properties. Materials and Methods: Crossbred steers (n = 68; BW = 539 ± 36 kg) were fed 1 of 5 dietary treatments: (1) control (CON; no antibiotics fed); (2) monensin and tylosin (M/T; monensin supplemented at 33 mg/kg on a DM basis; tylosin supplemented at 11 mg/kg on a DM basis); (3) essential oils (EO; supplemented at 1.0 g/steer per day); (4) benzoic acid (BA; supplemented at 0.5% on a DM basis); and (5) combination (COMBO; essential oils supplemented at 1.0 g/steer per day and benzoic acid supplemented at 0.5% on a DM basis). Steers were fed their designated diets for the last 98 d of the finishing period using an Insentec feeding system (Insentec B.V., Marknesse, the Netherlands). Results and Discussion: A tendency for improved G:F (P = 0.07) was observed; specifically, M/T steers tended to have greater feed efficiency compared with CON, EO, and COMBO steers. Dietary treatment affected (P ≤ 0.05) lipid content in the longissimus thoracis and the following trained sensory attributes: tenderness, chewiness, juiciness, and beef flavor. Specifically, longissimus thoracis steaks from CON steers had less lipid content, whereas longissimus thoracis steaks from CON and COMBO steers were tougher, chewier, and less juicy compared with other treatments. Implications and Applications: Results from this study suggest that growth performance was similar for steers supplemented with essential oils, benzoic acid, or both versus CON steers, and beef quality from alternative treatments was not compromised.