Fatty acid profile, physicochemical composition and carcass traits of young Nellore bulls fed Acacia mearnsii extract

• Published in: Meat science 2024-10, Vol.216, p.109579, Article 109579
• Main Authors: dos Santos, Fernanda M., Bezerra, Leilson R., Vieira, Jusaline F., Marcelino, Polyana D.R., Barbosa, Analivia M., Pereira Filho, José M., Arce-Cordero, Jose A., Ribeiro, Claudio Vaz Di M., Silva, Thadeu M., Oliveira, Ronaldo L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acacia - chemistry; Acacia mearnsii; Animal Feed - analysis; Animals; average daily gain; Bovine; Cattle; Cholesterol; collagen; Color; diet; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Supplements; fatty acid composition; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - analysis; lipid peroxidation; Longissimus muscle; Male; meat; meat science; Muscle, Skeletal - chemistry; Nellore; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Red Meat - analysis; Shear force; Shear Strength; shear stress; Total phenols
• ISSN: 0309-1740; 1873-4138; 1873-4138
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2024.109579

Fatty acid profile, physicochemical composition, and carcass traits of 32 young Nellore bulls were assessed following the supplementation of Acacia mearnsii extract at levels of 0, 10, 30, and 50 g/kg of total dry matter (DM) in a completely randomized experiment with four treatments and eight replicates. Adding 50 g/kg DM of condensed tannins (CT) from Acacia mearnsii in the bulls' diet reduced DM intake, average daily gain, and meat lipid oxidation (P ≤ 0.05). The pH, centesimal composition, collagen, and meat color indexes of the longissimus muscle were not altered by the addition of Acacia mearnsii (P > 0.05). Cooling loss increased (P = 0.049) linearly. Including Acacia mearnsii in diet reduced the Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF, P = 0.018) of longissimus muscle of the bulls. The concentration of C16:0, C17:0, C24:0, t9,10,11,16–18:1, c9t11–18:2, C18:2n–6, C20:4n–6, 20:5n–3, 22:5n–3, and 22:6n–3 in the muscle increased due to the addition of Acacia in the diet (P ≤ 0.05), with the highest muscle concentrations caused by the addition of 10 to 30 g Acacia. c9–18:1 and t16–18:1 reduced linearly. ƩSFA, ƩBI, Ʃcis– and ƩMUFA, Ʃn–3, Ʃn–6, and ƩPUFA (P ≤ 0.05) quadratically increased at higher concentrations of addition of Acacia, above 30 g/kg DM. It is recommended to include Acacia mearnsii extract up to 30 g/kg total DM in diets for young bulls as it improves CLA, PUFA and TI and reduces lipid oxidation. Acacia mearnsii extract as source of CT at 50 g/kg DM negatively impacted the young bulls performance. •50 g/kg DM of Acacia mearnsii extract in the diet reduces growth performance in bulls.•Young bulls feeding on Acacia have less subcutaneous fat•Meat lipid oxidation activity reduces due to cattle's increasing acacia intake.•cacia mearnsii in the bulls' diet up to 30 g/kg DM improves CLA and PUFA in the meat.