Fatty acid profiles, meat quality, and sensory attributes of organic versus conventional dairy beef steers

Abstract

Meat from Holstein and crossbred organic and conventional dairy steers were evaluated and compared for fatty acid profiles, meat quality, sensory attributes, and consumer acceptance. Bull calves (n=49) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 replicated groups: conventional (CONV), organic (ORG, pasture + concentrate), or grass-fed organic (GRS) and were born at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (Morris, MN) between March and May 2011. The CONV steers (n=16) were fed a diet that contained 80% concentrate and 20% forage, and ORG steers (n=16) were fed a diet of organic corn, organic corn silage, and organic protein supplement. Furthermore, ORG steers consumed at least 30% of diet dry matter of high-quality organic pasture during the grazing season. The GRS steers (n=17) consumed 100% forage from pasture during the grazing season and high-quality hay or hay silage during the nongrazing season. The ORG steers had fat that was greater in oleic acid (C18:1) than the GRS and CONV steers (47.1, 36.1, and 39.9%, respectively). The GRS steers (21.9%) were lower for monounsaturated fat than the ORG (42.1%) and CONV (40.4%) steers. Furthermore, the GRS steers tended to have greater n-3 fat and had lower n-6 fat than the ORG and CONV steers. Consequently, the GRS (1.4%) steers had a lower n-6-to-n-3 fat ratio than the ORG (12.9%) and CONV (10.0%) steers. The GRS (2.6 kg) steers had steaks that were not different for Warner-Bratzler shear force than ORG (2.3 kg) steaks; however, the GRS steaks tended to have greater shear force than the CONV (2.0 kg) steaks. The 3 steer group had steaks that were not different for color brightness (L*; 0 = black and 100 = white) and yellowness/blueness (b*; positive values = yellow and negative values = blue) values; however, the GRS (10.5) steaks had lower redness/greenness (a*; positive values = red and negative values = green) values than CONV (14.5) steaks. For sensory attributes (0- to 120-point scale), no differences were observed for ORG (71.3) and CONV (69.2) steers for overall consumer liking of the beef; however, the GRS (56.3) steers had the lowest overall liking among beef consumers. The ORG (73.3) steers had greater flavor liking than the GRS (56.8) and CONV (69.2) steers. Conversely, the GRS (6.3) steers had the highest scores for off-flavor (0- to 20-point scale) compared with the ORG (3.9) and CONV (4.1) steers. The results of the current study suggest that a potential market may exist for organic grass-fed dairy steers in the United States, but quality and consistency of the beef needs to be improved.

Systematic evaluation of nutritional and safety characteristics of Hengshan goat leg meat affected by multiple thermal processing methods

“…Fatty acid composition is one of the most important indicator for meat nutritional value and closely relates to meat flavor and human health (Bjorklund, Heins, Dicostanzo, & Chester‐Jones, 2014; Seppänen‐Laakso, Laakso, & Hiltunen, 2002). In current study, 18 fatty acid contents along with the levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were analyzed in the control and processed samples to indicate meat nutritional conditions after different thermal processing (Table 1).…”

Consumer Acceptability of Intramuscular Fat

“…Previous studies showed lower consumer acceptance of grass-fed beef compared to beef raised on concentrate (Bjorklund et al , 2014; Hunt et al , 2014; Legako et al , 2015; Maughan et al , 2012). Most comparisons are typically between very low fat grass-fed beef with much higher fat grain-fed produce (Van Elswyk and McNeill, 2014).…”

“…Beef can be a good source of mono-unsaturated oleic acid as well as short and long chain omega-3 fatty acids, with proven health benefits. Ruminants also produce a number of unique unsaturated fatty acids (vaccenic and rumenic) which probably have positive human health effects (Bjorklund et al , 2014; Daley et al , 2010; Pavan and Duckett, 2013). Importantly, unsaturated fat has been shown to significantly increase satiety compared to saturated fats (Maljaars et al , 2009).…”

Consumer Acceptance, Emotional Response, and Purchase Intent of Rib‐Eye Steaks from Grass‐Fed Steers, and Effects of Health Benefit Information on Consumer Perception

“…However, the majority of sensory research on grass‐fed beef has only explored one or two biological types at a time. These include traditional beef breeds: Angus (O'Quinn et al., ), Wagyu (Frank, Joo, & Warner, ), Hereford (Realini, Duckett, Brito, Dalla Rizza, & De Mattos, ), and Simmental (Nuernberg et al., ); crossbreeds (Torrico et al., ); and some dairy cattle such as Holstein (Bjorklund, Heins, DiCostanzo, & Chester‐Jones, ). These studies come from all over the world, but there is very little current research examining acceptability of grass‐fed beef from different biological types in the United States.…”