Effect of pasture vs. concentrate feeding with or without antioxidants on carcass characteristics, fatty acid composition, and quality of Uruguayan beef

Thirty Hereford steers were finished either on pasture (n = 10) or concentrate (n = 20) to determine dietary and antioxidant treatment effects on carcass characteristics, fatty acid composition, and quality of Uruguayan beef. Half of the steers finished on concentrate were supplemented with 1000 I.U. vitamin E head(-1) day(-1) for 100 days. Postmortem vitamin C was added to ground beef (0.05% v/w) displayed for 8 days at 2 degrees C. Carcasses from steers finished on concentrate had greater (P < 0.05) carcass weight, conformation, degree of finishing, fat depth, and ribeye area than pasture finished animals. Carcasses from pasture-fed steers showed darker (P < 0.05) longissimus color and yellower (P < 0.05) fat at 24 h postmortem than concentrate-fed. Initial longissimus Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values were similar (P > 0.05) between pasture- and concentrate-fed animals. However, beef from pasture-fed cattle had lower (P < 0.05) WBSF values at 7 and 14 days postmortem. Longissimus alpha-tocopherol concentrations were greater (P < 0.01) for pasture- and concentrate-fed animals that were supplemented with vitamin E compared to concentrate-fed. Steaks from pasture-fed and vitamin E supplemented cattle had similar (P > 0.05) TBARS values, which were lower (P < 0.05) than steaks from concentrate-fed steers during 21 days of display. Ground beef from vitamin E supplemented steers had the lowest TBARS values; whereas samples from pasture-fed animals had the lowest lipid stability with higher TBARS levels than other treatments. Vitamin C addition to ground beef did not (P > 0.05) reduce lipid oxidation. Vitamin E supplementation of concentrate-fed cattle had no effect (P > 0.05) on color stability of ground beef or steaks. The a* (redness) and b* (yellowness) values were higher (P < 0.05) when vitamin C was added to ground beef. Longissimus fatty acid content of concentrate-fed animals was twofold greater (P < 0.01) than pasture-fed. The percentages of C14:0, C16:0, and C18:1 fatty acids were higher (P < 0.01) in the intramuscular fat of concentrate-fed steers, whereas pasture-fed cattle showed greater (P < 0.01) proportions of C18:0, C18:2, C18:3, C20:4, C20:5, and C22:5. Total conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and CLA isomer c9t11 were higher (P < 0.01) for pasture- than concentrate-fed cattle. Vitamin E supplementation of concentrate-fed steers increased lipid stability of ground beef and steaks, but was unable to improve color stability; whereas vitamin C addition to ground beef increased color stability without altering lipid oxidation. Finishing cattle on pasture enhanced the unsaturated fatty acid profile of intramuscular fat in beef including CLA and omega-3 fatty acids.