Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Foods
Author ORCID Identifier
Lucas Krusinski https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7387-3839
Muhammad Ahsin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9990-0863
Jenifer I. Fenton https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8875-3239
Volume
12
Issue
19
Publisher
MDPI AG
Publication Date
9-24-2023
First Page
1
Last Page
20
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Abstract
Grass-finished beef (GFB) can provide beneficial bioactive compounds to healthy diets, including omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and secondary bioactive compounds, such as phytochemicals. The objective of this study was to compare fatty acids (FAs), micronutrients, and phytochemicals of beef fed a biodiverse pasture (GRASS), a total mixed ration (GRAIN), or a total mixed ration with 5% grapeseed extract (GRAPE). This was a two-year study involving fifty-four Red Angus steers (n = 54). GFB contained higher levels of n-3 PUFAs, vitamin E, iron, zinc, stachydrine, hippuric acid, citric acid, and succinic acid than beef from GRAIN and GRAPE (p < 0.001 for all). No differences were observed in quantified phytochemicals between beef from GRAIN and GRAPE (p > 0.05). Random forest analysis indicated that phytochemical and FA composition of meat can predict cattle diets with a degree of certainty, especially for GFB (5.6% class error). In conclusion, these results indicate that GFB contains higher levels of potentially beneficial bioactive compounds, such as n-3 PUFAs, micronutrients, and phytochemicals, compared to grain-finished beef. Additionally, the n-6:n-3 ratio was the most crucial factor capable of separating beef based on finishing diets.
Recommended Citation
Krusinski, L.; Maciel, I.C.F.; van Vliet, S.; Ahsin, M.; Lu, G.; Rowntree, J.E.; Fenton, J.I. Measuring the Phytochemical Richness of Meat: Effects of Grass/Grain Finishing Systems and Grapeseed Extract Supplementation on the Fatty Acid and Phytochemical Content of Beef. Foods 2023, 12, 3547. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12193547
