Effects of Feeding Herbaceous Peat on Growth Performance and Meat Quality of Holstein Beef Cattle

Our objective was to investigate Lactobacillus buchneri as a silage additive and the forage:concentrate (F:C) ratio on growth performance and meat quality of finishing beef cattle. The trial was a 2 (corn silage untreated or inoculated with L. buchneri) × 2 (two F:C ratios, 60:40 or 40:60) factorial. Bulls fed a 40:60 F:C diet containing inoculated silage had greater dry matter (DM) intake (P < 0.01) and average daily gain (P = 0.029) compared with other treatments. DM (P = 0.02) and neutral detergent digestibility (P < 0.01) were depressed by inoculation of corn silage with L. buchneri. Thiobarbituric acid concentration in meat increased (P < 0.01) by 15% in bulls fed the 60:40 F:C diet compared with the 40:60 F:C diet. Inoculation of silage increased (P = 0.02) the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids. Compared with the 60:40 F:C diet, the concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids (P = 0.03) and omega-6 fatty acids (P = 0.02) increased in longissimus muscle by 23% and 26%, respectively, in bulls fed the 40:60 F:C diet. Inoculation of corn silage with L. buchneri inconsistently improved the growth performance and meat traits of finishing bulls consuming diets differing in F:C.

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Radix Puerarin Extract (Puerarin) Could Improve Meat Quality of Heat-Stressed Beef Cattle Through Changing Muscle Antioxidant Ability and Fiber Characteristics

Frontiers in Veterinary Science ◽

10.3389/fvets.2020.615086 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Author(s):

Yanjiao Li ◽

Hanle Shang ◽

Xianghui Zhao ◽

Mingren Qu ◽

Tao Peng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Membrane ◽

Beef Cattle ◽

Growth Performance ◽

Mrna Expression ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Muscle Fiber ◽

Dietary Supplementation ◽

Control Group ◽

Antioxidant Ability

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with Puerarin on meat quality, muscle antioxidant ability, and muscle fiber characteristics of beef cattle under a hot environment in summer. Thirty-two 15 ± 1.5-month-old Jinjiang bulls (291.65 ± 8.84 kg) were randomly divided into four groups with dietary Puerarin at 0 (control), 200 (Pue200), 400 (Pue400), and 800 (Pue800) mg/kg in the feed concentrate (n = 8). The feeding trial lasted for 60 days after a 10-day adaptation period (July 1–September 8); the average values of temperature, relative humidity and temperature, and humidity index were 30.68°C, 68.05%, and 81.81, respectively. The growth performance on day 40 of the experiment period was calculated. After 60 days' experimental period, four Jinjiang cattle per treatment from the control group, Pue400 group, and Pue800 group were slaughtered. Compared with the control group, the Pue400 and Pue800 groups improved the growth performance of beef cattle; the Pue800 group elevated the activities of superoxide dismutase, total antioxidant capacity, and glutathione peroxidase in the M. longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle. In the control group, the cell membrane was incomplete, and most of the mitochondria were elongated and in a fission state, while in the Pue400 and Pue800 groups, the cell membrane was clear and complete, and the mitochondria presented with round and oval shapes. Compared with the control group, the Pue400 and Pue800 groups reduced the shear force of the LT muscle, and the Pue400 group decreased the muscle fiber diameter and the myosin heavy-chain (MyHC)-IIb gene expression. Furthermore, the Pue400 and Pue800 groups decreased the ratio of AMP/ATP, the Pue800 group reduced the AMP-activated protein kinase α2 mRNA expression, and the Pue400 group improved the nuclear respiratory factor 1 mRNA expression. These results indicated that dietary supplementation with Puerarin might be beneficial to the meat quality of heat-stressed beef cattle by improving muscle antioxidant ability and reducing the MyHC-IIb muscle fiber composition. Based on the results of this study, we recommended 400 mg/kg Puerarin in the feed concentrate of beef cattle (~300 kg) for mitigation of heat stress.

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Effect of Aging Time on Meat Quality of Longissimus Dorsi from Yunling Cattle: A New Hybrid Beef Cattle

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani10101897 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 1897

Author(s):

Yongliang Fan ◽

Ziyin Han ◽

Abdelaziz Adam Idriss ARBAB ◽

Yi Yang ◽

Zhangping Yang

Keyword(s):

Fatty Acids ◽

Beef Cattle ◽

Growth Performance ◽

Aging Time ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Aging Process ◽

Sensory Characteristics ◽

Quality Analysis ◽

Economic Traits

The beef aging process is essential for compliance with certain major requisites, such as sensory characteristics for cooking and meat processing. Meat quality analysis of Yunling cattle, a new hybrid beef cattle bred by Chinese researchers, during the aging process, represents a major research gap. To explore Yunling beef initially, indicators associated with meat quality during the aging process of Yunling, Simmental, and Wenshan cattle were measured. In addition, some important economic traits were detected in the three breeds, including growth performance and carcass characteristics. The results showed that the growth performance, carcass traits, pH, and water holding capacity of Yunling and Simmental cattle were basically the same and better, respectively, than those of Wenshan cattle. The proportions of individual fatty acids in Yunling beef were healthier than in the other two breeds. Aging time did not affect the fatty acid profiles of the beef (p > 0.05). The contents of certain fatty acids in the three beef types displayed some differences in terms of days of aging (p < 0.05). The tenderness and meat color were better in the Yunling beef as the aging time increased, indicating that Yunling beef aged for 7 days was more suitable for cooking, exhibiting better sensory characteristics. Thus, a 7-day short-term aging process is very effective in improving the quality of Yunling beef. Our study attempted to fill a gap in the Yunling beef quality analysis during aging, providing further evidence for Yunling beef improvement.

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Effects of daidzein on growth performance, blood metabolites and meat quality of finishing Xianan beef cattle

The Journal of Agricultural Science ◽

10.1017/s0021859619000340 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 157 (2) ◽

pp. 169-175

Author(s):

H. Liang ◽

X. H. Zhao ◽

K. Pan ◽

L. J. Xu ◽

Z. H. Yi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Beef Cattle ◽

Growth Performance ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Average Daily Gain ◽

Control Group ◽

Feed Conversion ◽

Final Body Weight ◽

Blood Biochemical ◽

Lower Shear

AbstractAn experiment was conducted to determine the effects of supplementing different amounts of daidzein in a diet on the growth performance, blood biochemical parameters and meat quality of finishing beef cattle. Thirty finishing Xianan steers were distributed in three groups equilibrated by weight and fed three different dietary treatments (concentrate ratio = 80%): (1) control; (2) 500 mg/kg daidzein and (3) 1000 mg/kg daidzein, respectively. Steers were slaughtered after an 80-day feeding trial. Results showed that daidzein supplementation had no effect on the final body weight, average daily gain and feed conversion rate of steers. Steers fed with 1000 mg/kg daidzein had greater dry matter intake than those fed with control diets. Compared with the control group, the 1000 mg/kg daidzein group had a higher fat thickness, lower shear force and lightness. The pH, drip loss, cooking loss, redness (a*), yellowness (b*), moisture, ash, crude protein and intramuscular fat of the Longissimus dorsi muscle were unaffected by daidzein supplementation. Compared with the control group, the 1000 mg/kg daidzein group significantly increased the serum concentrations of insulin, free fatty acid and Glutamic-pyruvic transaminase. The 500 mg/kg daidzein group significantly increased the serum concentration of tetraiodothyronine compared with the control group. Supplemental daidzein did not affect the blood antioxidant ability and blood immune parameters in serum. In conclusion, daidzein supplementation above 500 mg/day modifies feed intake and metabolic and hormonal profile, with positive and negative effects on meat quality.

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Effect of Palm Kernel Protein on Growth Performance and Meat Quality of Broiler Chickens

Tavukçuluk Araştırma Dergisi ◽

10.34233/jpr.707532 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 41-47

Author(s):

Nur Shahirah SHAHİDAN ◽

Teck LOH ◽

Mohamed ALSHELMANİ ◽

Chong HAU ◽

Fu LEE ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Growth Performance ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Broiler Chickens ◽

Palm Kernel ◽

Kernel Protein

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Desirable effects of dietary 4-O-methyl-glucuronoarabinoxylan from the Echinacea plant on growth performance, thigh meat quality and development of small intestine in female Partridge-Shank broilers

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an18416 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 60 (2) ◽

pp. 288

Author(s):

Qing-Chang Ren ◽

Jing-Jing Xuan ◽

Chuan-Yan Che ◽

Xin-Chao Yan ◽

Zhong-Ze Hu

Keyword(s):

Small Intestine ◽

Growth Performance ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Dietary Supplementation ◽

Bodyweight Gain ◽

Lower Percentage ◽

Feed Ratio ◽

Muscle Ph ◽

Access To Water

In this trial we aimed to assess the effects of dietary supplementation of 4-O-methyl-glucuronoarabinoxylan (4OMG) on growth performance, thigh meat quality and small intestine development of female Partridge-Shank broilers. A total of 240 1-day-old female Partridge-Shank broilers were randomly distributed to four groups with three replicates of 20 within each group. Groups received either 0, 15, 20 or 25 g 4OMG/kg DM of diet. During the whole experiment of 60 days, broilers had ad libitum access to water and feed. At pen level, feed intake was recorded daily and broilers were weighed at the start and end of the experiment. For each group, three pens with a total of 20 broilers were randomly selected to determine the thigh meat quality and the small intestine development of broilers. Broilers fed diets with higher 4OMG had greater final liveweight (P = 0.004), daily bodyweight gain (P = 0.004) and gain-to-feed ratio (P < 0.001), muscle pH values (P = 0.031) and redness (P = 0.001), duodenal weight index (P = 0.042), jejunal (P = 0.043) and ileal length (P = 0.049), duodenal (P < 0.001) and ileal villus height (P = 0.008), but lower percentage of dead birds (P < 0.001), drip loss (P = 0.042) and shear force value (P = 0.043) of the thigh muscles. These results indicate that increasing dietary supplementation of 4OMG may improve growth performance and meat quality of female Partridge-Shank broilers through better development of small intestine.

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Effects of Dietary Energy on Growth Performance, Rumen Fermentation and Bacterial Community, and Meat Quality of Holstein-Friesians Bulls Slaughtered at Different Ages

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani9121123 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (12) ◽

pp. 1123 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Haibo Wang ◽

Hang Li ◽

Fei Wu ◽

Xinjun Qiu ◽

Zhantao Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bacterial Community ◽

Growth Performance ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Energy Levels ◽

Average Daily Gain ◽

Rumen Fermentation ◽

Dietary Energy ◽

Different Ages ◽

Slaughter Age

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary energy levels on growth performance, rumen fermentation and bacterial community, and meat quality of Holstein-Friesians bulls slaughtered at different ages. Thirty-six Holstein-Friesians bulls (17 months of age) were divided into a 3 × 3 factorial experiment with three energy levels (LE, ME and HE; metabolizable energy is 10.12, 10.90 and 11.68 MJ/kg, respectively) of diets, and three slaughter ages (20, 23 and 26 months). Results indicated that bulls fed with ME and HE diets had higher dry matter intake, average daily gain, and dressing percentage at 23 or 26 months of age. The ME and HE diets also reduced bacterial diversity, altered relative abundances of bacteria and produced lower concentrations of acetate, but higher butyrate and valerate concentrations in rumen fluid. Increasing in dietary energy and slaughter age increased the intramuscular fat (IMF) and water holding capacity. In summary, Holstein-Friesians bulls fed with ME and HE diets, slaughtered at 23 and 26 months of age could be a good choice to produce beef with high IMF. Slaughter age may have less influence than dietary energy in altering fermentation by increasing amylolytic bacteria and decreasing cellulolytic bacteria, and thus, further affecting meat quality.

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