Effect of different botanically‐diverse diets on the fatty acid profile, tocopherol content and oxidative stability of beef

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Beef from pasture-fed animals is viewed as a healthier and more welfare-friendly alternative to concentrate-fed beef. Botanically-diverse pastures consisting of numerous plant species may alter the fatty acid (FA) profile and the tocopherol content of beef, as well as the oxidative stability of the meat. In the present study, steers were assigned to one of three botanically-diverse diets: perennial ryegrass (PRG), perennial ryegrass + white clover (PRG + WC) or multi-species (MS), all with a finishing diet of the respective botanically-diverse silages plus a cereal-based concentrate, consistent with production systems in Ireland. The FA profile, tocopherol content, oxidative stability and colour of meat during storage were measured.RESULTS: Compared to the other diets, the MS diet resulted in higher proportions of linolenic acid (C18:3n-3c), linoleic acid (C18:2n-6c) and total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), with higher PUFA:saturated fatty acid and n-6:n-3 ratios in the meat. ⊍-Tocopherol concentrations were lowest in the meat of animals from the MS diet. In uncooked meat, lipid oxidation and colour values were affected by storage time across all diets, whereas the MS diet led to higher hue values only on day 14 of storage. When cooked, meat from animals on PRG + WC and MS diets had higher lipid oxidation on days 1 and 2 of storage than meat from animals on the PRG diet.CONCLUSION: Feeding steers on a botanically-diverse diet consisting of six plant species can improve the n-3 FA and PUFA concentration of beef, affecting the susceptibility of cooked, but not uncooked, beef to oxidation.

Evaluation of Antioxidant, Nephroprotective and Immunomodulatory Activity of Vitamins C and E -Sodium Selenite in Mice Intoxicated with Sodium Nitrate

“…Second benefit, anchoring of vitamin E with lipid bilayer of biological membranes leads to reduction of membrane permeability and increase its stability (Raederstorff et al, 2015;Trela-Makowej et al, 2022). The third one, formation of complex due to anchoring of vitamin E with lipid bilayer of biological membranes leads to stabilization of membrane-bound phospholipases (Marquardt et al, 2013;Kearns et al, 2023). The last one, Formation of complex due to anchoring of vitamin E with lipid bilayer of biological membranes leads to stabilization and protection of the polypeptide chains of cellular intrinsic proteins to counteract the modification results from free fatty acids (Pekİner, 2003;Lopez et al, 2014).…”

Enrichment of ruminant meats with health enhancing fatty acids and antioxidants: feed-based effects on nutritional value and human health aspects – invited review

“…Consequently, beef from cattle grazing pastures containing white or red clover has higher proportions of n-3 PUFAs, along with a lower n-6:n-3 ratio (Lee et al, 2009;Berthelot and Gruffat, 2018;Moloney et al, 2018). Additionally, grazing steers on multispecies pasture consisting of different grasses, legumes and forbs resulted in beef with higher levels of LA, ALA and a higher n-6:n-3 ratio compared to beef from steers grazing perennial ryegrass (Kearns et al, 2023a). Given fresh forages and pastures contain higher concentrations of ALA, grazing is more effective in increasing n-3 PUFA and their respective BHIs while lowering the n-6:n-3 ratio in beef compared to feeding conserved forages and high-grain diets.…”