Growth, carcass traits, chemical composition and fatty acid profile in beef from Charolais and Simmental bulls fed different types of dietary lipids

BACKGROUND: The effect of breed and whole sunflower seed on performance, carcass traits and the composition of meat was evaluated in Charolais (CH) and Simmental (SI) bulls. Samples of musculus longissimus lumborum (MLL) and musculus infraspinatus (MIS) were analysed. RESULTS: The CH bulls had a lower feed intake per kg of gain, a higher killing-out percentage and produced more valuable carcasses. The muscles from SI bulls contained more monounsaturated fatty acids (FA) and less saturated FA (in g kg(-1) FA) than the muscles from CH bulls. The sunflower seed supplement increased the proportions of linoleic acid and c9t11 conjugated linoleic acid and the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to saturated FA and decreased the index of atherogenicity of FA in meat lipids. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated the superiority of the CH over the SI breed in a number of economically important traits. The breed effect on the nutritional quality of meat was ambiguous. Meat lipids of the SI bulls contained more unsaturated FA but also more PUFA n-6 and a higher PUFA n-6/PUFA n-3 ratio. (c) 2008 Society of Chemical Industry