Performance, carcass parameters, meat quality and lipid profile from feedlot young bulls fed cottonseed

Abstract

SUMMARY The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance, carcass, meat quality, fatty acid profile and liver alterations of cattle supplemented with cottonseed feedlot. It used 100 Nelore cattle, being divided into two groups of 50 animals, which received a cottonseed (CS) in grain form by the diet in the proportion of 15% and the other group was provided with control diet without CS in the feedlot for 88 days. The diets were isoprotein and isoenergetic and concentrate:roughage ratio of 60:40. The animals were slaughter in the end of experimental time and the collection of liver samples for histological analysis. After cooling 24 hours at ± 1°C were conducted evaluation of carcass and major cuts, final pH and collected muscle samples longissimus to carry out the physicochemical analyzes (Color, Cooking Loss, Pigments and Shear Force), chemical composition, fatty acid profile and oxidation. The inclusion of CS in the diet provided animals with higher slaughter weight, daily weight gain, Hindquarter, however, the animals showed reduced carcass yield, forequarter weight and Thin flank, without changing the parameters as rib-eye area and backfat thickness. There was an increase of the yellow values (b*) and moisture with the final pH reduction. There was no influence of the use of cottonseed in relation to histological parameters evaluated in the liver. The cottonseed in the feeding feedlot cattle promoted improvement in animal performance, despite the reduction of the forequarter weight, with appropriate aspects of meat quality, fatty acid profile and conservation.

Sensory characteristics and volatile compounds of beef in feedlots with cottonseed

“…There was no influence of cottonseed supplementation on color parameters indicated by the tasters; moreover, other authors have reported no negative influence of cottonseed or other byproducts used for feeding cattle on the sensorial attributes of beef (Eiras et al, 2017;Gomes et al, 2016;Polizel Neto et al, 2022). Despite the physicochemical analysis of the raw beef revealed a change in the objective meat color and pH (pH 24 h), there was an increase in the yellowness index (higher value of b*) and a decrease in pH, similar to the results reported by Esteves et al (2017). Similarly, Stelzleni et al (2013) investigated the influence of objective color parameters of beef from finished heifers fed cottonseed pellets (which yielded a lower brightness index), and no differences in meat quality or sensory traits were reported.…”

“…The main factor is associated with this change in lipid composition because an increase in the C18:2w6 (linoleic acid) content could be responsible for the oxidation of compounds associated with characteristic meat flavors or undesirable flavors (Ferrinho et al, 2018). In contrast, in beef in the present study, there were no effects on ether extract or fatty acid composition (Esteves et al, 2017). This could be associated with the lower level of cottonseed feed provided to the animals in the present study, which is not sufficient to change the fatty acid profile of the meat.…”

“…However, most authors have established an association between the formation of VCs and oxidation processes on fatty acids in beef. In the present study, this association was not detected; there was no difference in the fatty acid profiles between beef samples (Esteves et al, 2017). Therefore, these differences in VCs are not related only to the lipid profile of beef, considering the influence of the characteristics and composition of the raw material (whole cottonseed) used to feed animals.…”

“…Fattening cattle in feedlot systems is a method used worldwide to achieve better performance and carcass characteristics in a short time. Despite these advantages, it is very important that the feed used in this system provides sufficient nutritional benefits, is low in cost, contributes to reducing foodfeed competition, and decreases the environmental impact of livestock (Esteves et al, 2017;Lima et al, 2016;Polizel Neto et al, 2022;Salami et al, 2019). In addition to these aspects, byproducts from cotton harvest have been used to feed cattle in feedlots in Brazil and worldwide in different ways, such as whole cottonseed, hulls, gin trash, and meal (Rogers et al, 2002).…”