Is beef quality affected by the inclusion of distiller grains in cattle diets?

MERAYO, MANUELA; PIGHIN, DARÍO; CUNZOLO, SEBASTIÁN; GRIGIONI, GABRIELA

ANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2022 vol. 93 p. 1 - 11

1344-3941

This study aimed to analyze the effect of including increasing levels of distiller grains(DG) in beef cattle feeding diets on meat quality from an integral approach. To thisend, we analyzed the meat from 36 yearling steers fed with four dietary treatments:0DG (control corn-based diet), 15DG, 30DG, and 45DG (containing 15%, 30%, or45% of DG on DM basis). Crude protein, ash, and fat contents of diets increased withDG level. The fatty acid profile of DG diets was reflected in the fatty acid profile ofplasma samples. Feeding diets with DG had no effect on the biochemical parametersanalyzed in plasma. In addition, it did not influence the water holding capacity, themuscle or fat color at 72 h post mortem or at retail display, or the contents of SFAs,MUFAs, and PUFAs in beef. The DG diets led to lower values of cooking loss. Meatfrom 15DG and 30DG showed greater percentage of troponin C and fragments of30 to 27 kDa than meat from 45DG. Also, meat from 30DG showed the lowestvalues of Warner-Bratzler shear force. Hence, including up to 30% corn DG in beefcattle feeding diets had positive effects on meat quality.