N-acetyl-l-methionine dietary supplementation improves meat quality by oxidative stability of finishing Angus heifers

• Published in: Meat science 2024-08, Vol.214, p.109499-109499, Article 109499
• Main Authors: Liu, Yue, Chen, Wanbao, Zhang, Shuo, Zhu, Xiaohui, Wu, Hao, Meng, Qingxiang, Khan, Muhammad Zahoor, Yu, Zhu, Zhou, Zhenming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Antioxidant capacity; Antioxidants; Cattle; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Supplements; Female; Finishing cattle; Meat quality; Methionine - administration & dosage; Muscle, Skeletal - chemistry; Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism; N-acetyl-l-methionine; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; Red Meat - analysis
• ISSN: 0309-1740; 1873-4138
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2024.109499

Methionine plays a vital role in protein synthesis, and regulation of antioxidant response in ruminants. This study aimed to assess the effects of dietary supplementation with N-acetyl-l-methionine (NALM), which serves a source of rumen-protected methionine, on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and oxidative stability. Sixty Angus heifers (initial body weight = 408 ± 51.2 kg, 15–18 months) were stratified by body weight and randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: a control group (0% NALM), and experimental groups receiving diets containing 0.125%, 0.25%, and 0.50% NALM (dry matter (DM) basis), respectively. The experiment included a 2-week adaptation and a 22-week data and sample collection period. Results indicated that blood urea nitrogen in the plasma of the 0.25% NALM group was lower compared to the control and the 0.50% NALM groups (P = 0.02). The plasma methionine (P = 0.04), proline (P