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Twenty Gascon young bulls that had been reared either in intensive conditions (INT) (n = 10) with early weaning at 3 to 4 months, or in a traditional extensive (EXT) system (n = 10) with weaning at 7 months, were subjected to the same conditions during the 145-day finishing period. Production system before the finishing period did not affect conformation, dressing percentage or morphology of the carcass; nevertheless, tissue composition differed somewhat between the two groups. Display had a stronger effect on meat colour than did production system. Percentage of myoglobin was highest in INT (P ⩽ 0.001), although meat texture and sensory quality did not differ between rearing conditions. EXT animals had darker, more yellow fat, a higher percentage of n-3 fatty acids (P ⩽ 0.001), a lower percentage of saturated fatty acids (P ⩽ 0.05) and a lower n-6/n-3 index (P ⩽ 0.001) than did the INT-reared animals. Production system before the fattening period might modify some of the characteristics of commercial beef, especially those associated with fat.Keywords: Gascon breed, beef cattle, colour, panel test, fatty acids ImplicationsThe effect of background before the entrance in a feedlot on meat quality in beef has been hardly studied for the literature available on this topic is very scarce, especially when the productive life of the animals is considered as a whole and animals are fed a common finishing diet. Our results show new information and complement the existent helping to understand the possible influence of the previous fattening production system, as grazing at an early stage provokes certain distinctive characteristics that are kept even after several months of concentrate feeding.