Stability of fatty acid composition of intramuscular fat from pasture- And grain-fed young bulls during the first 7 d postmortem

Abstract

In order to study the effect of different amounts of concentrate feed and the effectiveness of natural antioxidants on the fatty acid stability of intramuscular fat during the first days postmortem, 75 young bulls of the Retinta breed were divided in three groups: 30 were grazed, 30 were fed on medium concentrate diets, and 15 were fed on high-concentrate diets. Young bulls were slaughtered at commercial weight, around a 500 kg final body weight. Samples from iLongissimus lumborum/i muscle were assigned to two ageing periods (0 and 7 d) and were vacuum packaged in vacuum bags (span classCombining double low line"inline-formula"O2/span permeability: 9.3 span classCombining double low line"inline-formula"mL/span span classCombining double low line O2 classCombining double low lineinline-formulam2/span per 24& classCombining double low lineinline-formulaspan at 0& classCombining double low lineinline-formulaC) using an EGARVAC classCombining double low line"inline-formula®sealer. Beef from grass-fed bulls showed a higher polyunsaturated fatty acid content than concentrate-fed bulls. During the first 7 d postmortem, no changes in the fatty acids profile were observed, because span classCombining double low line α-tocopherol content was optimal to prevent lipid oxidation. The higher level of natural antioxidants in grass than in grain resulted in the stability of the fatty acid profile. This study shows that the anti-oxidative potential of natural antioxidants in meat plays an important role during the first 7 d postmortem.