Fatty acid profile, meat quality and flavour acceptability of beef from double-muscled Piemontese young bulls fed ground flaxseed

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients, proximate composition and fatty acid profile of the experimental diets.

	FP1		FP2
	C	FS	C	FS
Ingredients (g/kg DM)
Concentrate A^a	353	271	313	244
Corn meal	298	316	209	272
Dried sugar beet pulp	181	134	139	70
Ryegrass hay	125	159	116	143
Barley meal	0	0	155	121
Ground flaxseed	0	99	0	100
Soybean meal	44	22	25	5
Concentrate B^b	0	0	43	46
Proximate composition (g/kg DM)
DM (g/kg)	861	865	864	868
CP	174	170	172	169
EE	40	76	36	74
Ash	68	62	64	57
NDF	357	356	355	340
ADF	192	192	179	172
NEF (MJ/kg DM)	7.94	8.19	7.89	8.18
Fatty acid composition (g/kg of TFA)
C14:0	1.60	0.90	0.19	0.10
C16:0	168.50	108.70	17.78	10.96
C18:0	23.10	25.00	2.21	2.48
C18:1 c9	268.40	242.30	25.29	23.96
C18:2 n-6	490.00	318.60	49.50	31.97
C18:3 n-3	29.60	292.00	3.27	29.36
Others	18.80	12.40	1.75	1.17

FP: fattening period; C: control diet; FS: flaxseed diet; DM: dry matter; CP: crude protein; EE: ether extract; NDF: neutral detergent fibre; ADF: acid detergent fibre; NEF: net energy for fattening; TFA: total fatty acids; c: cis; Others: C12:0 + C16:1 t3 + C16:1 c9 + C18:1 c11 + C20:0 + C18:3 n-6.

^a Containing: corn 26%, wheat bran shorts middlings 20%, sunflower meal 15%, rice bran 12%, roasted dehulled soybean meal 9%, wheat bran 7%, roasted soybean meal 4.2%, wheat flour middlings 2%, calcium carbonate 1.5%, cane molasses 1%, canola meal 1%, dicalcium phosphate 0.5%, sodium chloride 0.5%, vitamins and minerals 0.3%. Chemical composition (as fed basis): 18% CP; 5.5% CF (crude fibre); 8.0% cellulose; 7.1% ash; 0.2% Na. Vitamin-mineral composition (given values supplied per kg of concentrate): 88,938 U of vitamin A; 1,338 U of vitamin D₃; 68 mg of vitamin E; 2.5 mg of vitamin B₁; 1.3 mg of vitamin B₂; 1.3 mg of vitamin B₆; 0.011 mg of vitamin B₁₂; 22 mg of vitamin PP; 0.011 mg of biotin; 2.5 mg of pantothenic acid; 750 mg of choline chloride; 54 mg of Mn; 57 mg of Fe; 194 mg of Zn; 12.6 mg of Cu; 0.54 mg of Co; 2.2 mg of I; 0.18 mg of Se.

^b Containing: corn germ meal 45%, wheat middlings 25%, wheat bran 15%, corn 14.7%, vitamins and minerals 0.3%. Chemical composition (as fed basis): 17.5% CP; 3.4% CF (crude fibre); 7.8% cellulose; 5.6% ash; 0.1% Na. Vitamin–mineral composition (given values supplied per kg of concentrate): 4,000 mg of vitamin E; 5.0 mg of Se.

Table 2. Proximate composition (g/kg meat) of longissimus thoracis muscle of Piemontese bulls fed the control (C) and flaxseed (FS) diets (n = 9).

	Dietary treatment
	C	FS	SEM	p-value
Moisture	752.9	754.7	1.43	.422
Protein	229.5	231.5	1.35	.343
Ether Extract	5.2	4.6	0.58	.532

SEM: standard error of the mean; p: probability.

Table 3. Fatty acid profile of total lipids in longissimus thoracis muscle of Piemontese bulls fed the control (C) and flaxseed (FS) diets (n = 9).

	Dietary treatment
	C	FS	SEM	p-value
Individual SFA (g/100 g of TFA)
C10:0	0.06	0.06	0.009	.855
C12:0	0.05	0.05	0.005	.766
C14:0	1.53	1.45	0.086	.569
C15:0	2.36	2.19	0.298	.701
C15 anteiso	0.10	0.11	0.009	.414
C16:0	20.45	18.92	0.531	.078
C17:0	1.23	1.09	0.104	.382
C17 iso	0.35	0.35	0.020	.925
C18:0	13.23	15.31	0.560	.028
C18 iso	0.02	0.04	0.005	.072
C20:0	0.07	0.10	0.007	.014
C22:0	0.10	0.11	0.012	.635
Individual MUFA (g/100 g of TFA)
C14:1 c9	0.56	0.55	0.050	.818
C16:1 t9	0.11	0.11	0.018	.758
C16:1 c7	0.45	0.37	0.026	.072
C16:1 c9	1.30	0.99	0.080	.124
C17:1 c9	0.34	0.38	0.049	.687
C18:1 t6-9	0.25	0.29	0.021	.245
C18:1 t10-11	2.74	2.47	0.283	.544
C18:1 t12	0.57	1.21	0.057	.000
C18:1 c9+t13-14	22.48	19.21	1.622	.206
C18:1 c11+t15	1.78	1.59	0.077	.130
C18:1 c12	0.36	0.50	0.032	.011
C18:1 c15+t16	0.36	0.40	0.042	.511
C20:1 c11	0.11	0.09	0.006	.024
Individual PUFA (g/100 g of TFA)
C18:2 c9,t13+c9,t14	0.13	0.24	0.028	.016
C18:2 c9,t12+t8,c13	0.15	0.23	0.016	.004
C18:2 t9,c12	0.12	0.20	0.009	.000
C18:2 t10,c15+t11,c15	0.24	0.40	0.032	.005
C18:2 n-6 (LA)	21.52	21.86	1.431	.877
C18:2 c9,c15	0.11	0.09	0.012	.293
C18:2 c9,t11+t7,c9+t8,c10 (CLA)	0.15	0.14	0.008	.514
C18:3 n-6 (GLA)	0.08	0.09	0.008	.822
C18:3 n-3 (ALA)	0.88	2.98	0.140	.000
C20:2 n-6	0.12	0.08	0.008	.005
C20:3 n-9	0.04	0.06	0.004	.003
C20:3 n-6	0.65	0.62	0.051	.729
C20:3 n-3	0.02	0.03	0.006	.362
C20:4 n-6	3.60	3.62	0.255	.974
C20:5 n-3 (EPA)	0.22	0.41	0.039	.007
C22:4 n-6	0.39	0.28	0.028	.020
C22:5 n-3 (DPA)	0.62	0.72	0.086	.424
C22:6 n-3 (DHA)	0.02	0.04	0.005	.010
Groups of FA (g/100 g of TFA)
Σ SFA	39.56	39.78	0.698	.839
Σ MUFA	31.40	28.14	1.664	.218
Σ C18:1	28.52	25.67	1.647	.274
Σ C18:1 t	3.55	3.97	0.310	.379
Σ PUFA	29.04	32.08	1.910	.313
Σ C18:2	22.40	23.16	1.426	.732
Σ C18:2 t	0.78	1.21	0.065	.001
Σ n-6 PUFA	26.62	26.97	1.710	.895
Σ n-3 PUFA	2.11	4.67	0.237	.000
Selected FA (mg/100 g meat)
C16:0	120.75	91.27	10.389	.083
C18:0	76.94	73.87	6.739	.770
C18:1 c9+t13-14	136.47	94.28	17.186	.128
C18:2 n-6 (LA)	122.53	102.16	5.370	.025
C18:3 n-3 (ALA)	4.90	14.24	0.657	.000
Σ SFA	231.26	191.26	17.535	.156
Σ MUFA	189.00	137.36	21.200	.131
Σ C18:1	172.14	125.38	19.880	.144
Σ C18:1 t	20.78	19.11	2.494	.667
Σ PUFA	165.30	150.36	7.031	.184
Σ C18:2	127.78	108.39	5.673	.041
Σ C18:2 t	4.61	5.81	0.507	.142
Σ n-6 PUFA	151.62	126.13	6.277	.018
Σ n-3 PUFA	11.85	22.13	0.890	.000
FA ratios and DI
PUFA/SFA	0.74	0.81	0.057	.408
n-6/n-3 PUFA	13.13	5.60	0.511	.000
DI14*	0.38	0.38	0.047	.920
DI16**	0.06	0.05	0.006	.193
DI18***	1.72	1.28	0.134	.048

TFA: total fatty acids; SEM: standard error of the mean; p: probability; SFA: saturated fatty acids; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; c: cis; t: trans; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids; LA: linoleic acid; CLA: conjugated linoleic acid; GLA: γ-linolenic acid; ALA: α-linolenic acid; EPA: eicosapentaenoic acid; DPA: docosapentaenoic acid; DHA: docosahexaenoic acid; FA: fatty acids; DI: desaturase index.

* DI₁₄ = C14:1 c9/C14:0.

** DI₁₆ = C16:1 c9/C16:0.

*** DI₁₈ = C18:1 c9/C18:0.

Table 4. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS; mg MDA/kg of muscle tissue) values of longissimus thoracis muscle of Piemontese bulls fed the control (C) and flaxseed (FS) diets (n = 9), during ageing (2, 7 and 10 days at 4 ± 1 °C).

	Dietary treatment			p-value
Ageing	C	FS	SEM	D	AG	D × AG
d2	0.11^a	0.15^a	0.008	.096	.000	.038
d7	0.33^b	0.39^b	0.096
d10	0.41^b	0.72^c	0.101

SEM: standard error of the mean; p: probability; D: dietary treatment; AG: ageing period; D × AG: interaction between dietary treatment and ageing period. Means with different superscripts (a–c) within each column indicate significant differences among days.

Table 5. Colour parameters of longissimus thoracis muscle of Piemontese bulls fed the control (C) and flaxseed (FS) diets (n = 9) during ageing (7 and 10 days at 4 ± 1 °C).

	Dietary treatment
	C		FS			p- value
	d7	d10	d7	d10	SEM	D	AG	D × AG
L*	41.24	41.69	41.63	41.55	0.195	.924	.346	.195
a*	27.65	27.64	27.24	27.41	0.377	.633	.841	.817
b*	9.64	9.77	9.29	9.41	0.263	.471	.628	.990
C*	29.29	29.32	28.80	29.00	0.433	.597	.798	.851
H*	19.20	19.48	18.70	18.84	0.304	.375	.499	.815

SEM: standard error of the mean; p: probability; D: dietary treatment; AG: ageing period; D × AG: interaction between dietary treatment and ageing period; L*: lightness; a*: redness; b*: yellowness; C*: chroma; H*: hue angle.

Figure 1. Sensory ratings distribution of flavour intensity. Flavour was evaluated on a 9-point, end-anchored, intensity scale, where 1 = ‘none or extremely bland’; 9 = ‘extremely intense’.

Table 6. Flavour intensity of longissimus thoracis muscle of Piemontese bulls fed the control (C) and flaxseed (FS) diets (n = 9).

	C	FS	SEM	p-value
Flavour intensity	4.09	4.69	0.098	.039

SEM: standard error of the mean; p: probability. Flavour intensity was evaluated on a 9-point, end-anchored, intensity scale, where 1=‘none or extremely bland’; 9 = ‘extremely intense’.

Table 7. Flavour acceptability of longissimus thoracis muscle of Piemontese bulls fed the control (C) and flaxseed (FS) diets.

	Number of ratings (%)
	C	FS	χ^2	p-value
Acceptable	104 (83)	96 (76)	1.19	.275
Unacceptable	22 (17)	30 (24)
Total	126 (100)	126 (100)

χ²: Chi square; p: probability.