Effect of finishing mode (pasture- or mixed-diet) on lipid composition, colour stability and lipid oxidation in meat from Charolais cattle

• Published in: Meat science 2005, Vol.69 (1), p.175-186
• Main Authors: Gatellier, P., Mercier, Y., Juin, H., Renerre, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aerobic conditions; age at slaughter; beef carcasses; beef cows; Biological and medical sciences; carbon dioxide; carcass composition; Cattle; Charolais; color; Colour; corn silage; cow feeding; dietary mineral supplements; fatty acid composition; feed concentrates; feed conversion; feed intake; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Food engineering; Food industries; food packaging; food storage; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gender differences; grazing; hay; heifers; heme iron; Life Sciences; Lipid content; Lipid oxidation; lipid peroxidation; longissimus dorsi; Meat and meat product industries; meat composition; meat quality; Mixed-diet; Myoglobin; omega-3 fatty acids; omega-6 fatty acids; oxidative stability; oxygen; Pasture-diet; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; refrigeration; sown pastures; steers; storage time; thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances; vacuum packaging; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; vitamin content; Vitamin E; vitamin supplements
• ISSN: 0309-1740; 1873-4138
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2004.06.022

Effects of pasture- or mixed-diet finishing mode on colour and lipid stability were measured in meat from Charolais steers, heifers and cows of different ages after refrigerated storage. Meats from pasture- and mixed-diet finished cattle have more or less significant differences in lipid composition which will influence the colour and lipid stability. The mixed-diet finished cattle have about the same proportions of saturated and monounsaturated lipids as pasture-diet finished animals; on the contrary, cattle fed on grass have higher proportions of n−3 PUFA, and to a less extent, of n−6. Finishing diet had an important effect on lipid stability, meat from pasture-finished animals showing significantly lower TBA-RS level than meat from mixed-diet finished animals. Effect of diet was also significant on myoglobin content with a higher content of haeminic iron in mixed-diet finished animals. Effect of diet on colour stability was slight with a beneficial effect of pasture finishing mode, significant only in heifers, and after a meat storage of six days in air.