Meat quality traits and feeding distillers grains to cattle: a review

Abstract

Livestock management and meat production involve a series of steps that affect meat quality. Animal genetics, nutrition and diets, slaughter procedures and meat-preservation conditions are some of the parameters that should be controlled to maintain meat quality. In regard to animal nutrition and diets, novel ingredients are increasingly used, distillers grains (DG) being an example. DG are obtained as a co-product from bioethanol production and comprise the fat, protein, fibre and micronutrient portion of the grains. Many papers have studied the inclusion of DG in finishing diets and their effect on growth performance and meat characteristics, but a review on the effects on meat quality is needed. Feeding with DG influences beef colour; nevertheless, a relationship between the level of inclusion and colour development has not been established yet. In addition, feeding DG-inclusion diets sometimes increases meat discoloration during retail display. Also, the composition of fatty acids is modified since total polyunsaturated fatty acid content in meat increases with the inclusion of DG in finishing diets. This increment in polyunsaturated fatty acid content is likely to contribute to lipid oxidation processes and might be related to meat discoloration due to myoglobin oxidation. However, meat tenderness has not been modified in most of the cases. This review focused on recent studies on DG inclusion, animal performance and meat quality. Key points that need further research are also identified and discussed.

Does the length of time dried distillers' grain with solubles substitution for soybean meal affect physiological indicators and meat quality in finishing lambs?

“…Tenderness was higher in the D120 group than the other groups, but the differences were not significant (Table 6). Majority of studies on the effect of distillers grain inclusion on meat tenderness reported either no effect or increased tenderness in beef (Merayo et al., 2020); however, there are limited data available regarding the effect of DDGS on tenderness in lamb. Although it is hard to draw a conclusion from the current data, it seems that lambs fed DDGS longer had lower WBSF value and juicier and more tender meat.…”

Effect of Aging and Retail Display Conditions on the Color and Oxidant/Antioxidant Status of Beef from Steers Finished with DG-Supplemented Diets

“…Carotenoids are composed of carotenes and xanthophylls, which provide yellow color to animal products [ 30 , 31 ]. The co-products obtained after corn processing, like DG, increase the concentration of corn nutrients, except for sugars [ 3 ]. Previous reports have indicated that samples of dried DG with solubles obtained from different plants of bioethanol production have, on average, two-fold higher content of α-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, and lutein than corn grain [ 30 ].…”

“…It could be assumed that meat with an increase in PUFA content, due to the inclusion of DG in the diet, would be more susceptible to lipid oxidation and discoloration. Thus, as previously reviewed, it is difficult to define a general effect on meat color due to the inclusion of DG in the diet [ 3 ].…”

“…Some countries, like the USA, Brazil, and Canada, have a long history in bioethanol production and they shared, in 2021, 84% of world production [ 2 ], while other countries, like Argentina, have produced bioethanol more recently, using corn as a feedstock. Distiller grains (DG), which are the byproduct of the bioethanol industry, are considered a valuable supplement in animal feeding because they are rich in the fat, protein, and fiber portion of corn grain [ 3 , 4 ]. Several works have analyzed the effect of feeding with DG on beef pro-oxidative components, like unsaturated fatty acids and lipid oxidation [ 3 ].…”

“…Distiller grains (DG), which are the byproduct of the bioethanol industry, are considered a valuable supplement in animal feeding because they are rich in the fat, protein, and fiber portion of corn grain [ 3 , 4 ]. Several works have analyzed the effect of feeding with DG on beef pro-oxidative components, like unsaturated fatty acids and lipid oxidation [ 3 ]. However, few reports have focused on the effect of DG on beef anti and pro-oxidant balance and its relationship with beef color and lipid oxidation.…”