Nutraceutical Properties of Meat from Grazing Podolian Young Bulls

Abstract

The effect of rearing system (pasture with supplementation 15% crude protein OUT15 vs indoor IND) on meat nutritional and nutraceutical properties was evaluated in twenty Podolian young bulls. Meat quality characteristics were measured on three different muscles (Longissimus dorsi, LD, Semimembranosus, SM, Semitendinosus, ST), vacuum-packaged and chilled stored at 2˚C -4˚C for 15 days. No differences were found on chemical composition in meat from animals reared with different rearing system. Pasture with supplementation produced an improvement in fatty acid composition with a higher polyunsaturated fatty acid percentage, particularly, conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) and very long chain ω3 PUFA, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Meat from young bulls reared at pasture with supplementation showed in all examined muscles the highest α-tocopherol content compared with meat from IND group. On the other hand, malondialdehyde content was not affected by the feeding treatment.

Meat Quality in Katerini and Podolian Young Bulls Raised on Pasture: A Comparison between Organic Production Systems in Greek and Italian Environments

“…In this study, Podolian meat showed a greater MUFA concentration, while no differences between breeds were detected for the SFA and PUFA contents. The results observed in this study for the fatty acid profile of Podolian meat are quite similar to those reported in the literature [19,24,43]. There is general agreement on the fact that the genotype is the major source of variation in meat fatty acid composition [58].…”

“…So far, few literature works are available on the productive performances and meat quality traits of Katerini cattle [15], while several studies have been carried out on Podolian cattle farmed in southern Italian regions, such as Basilicata [19,20,43] and Apulia [5,21,24], under different farming systems. In our study, the slaughtering weight was generally lower as compared to the findings reported by other authors for young bulls slaughtered at the same age, which received feed supplementation in addition to grazing during the finishing period, while the dressing percentage was quite similar [5,21].…”

“…While Podolian cattle has been thoroughly studied for its milk and meat production and quality [19][20][21][22][23][24][25] traits, limited information is available for the Greek Katerini cattle breed. The existing literature mainly refers to the historical origin, the phenotypic characteristics and demographic evolution of the breed [26,27].…”