Intramuscular Fatty Acid Composition of the Longissimus Muscle of Unweaned Minhota Breed Calves at Different Slaughter Age

Subject Areas : Camel

جی.پی. آرایجو ¹ , پی. پیرس ² , جی.ل. سرکواِیرا ³ , م. باروس ⁴ , ت. مورنو ^{5 *}

1 - Centro de Investigação de Montanha, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Portugal|Escola Superior Agrária do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Refóios do Lima, 4990‐706 Ponte de Lima, Portugal
2 - Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Avenida do Atlântico, 4900‐348 Viana do Castelo, Portugal|CISAS, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun´Álvares, 4900-347, Viana do Castelo, Portugal
3 - Escola Superior Agrária do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Refóios do Lima, 4990‐706 Ponte de Lima, Portugal|Centro de Ciência Animal e Veterinária (CECAV), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
4 - Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Avenida do Atlântico, 4900‐348 Viana do Castelo, Portugal
5 - Departamento de Producción Animal, Centro de Investigaciones Agrarias de Mabegondo, Apdo 10, 15080 A Coruña, Spain

Received: 2019-05-15 Accepted : 2019-08-31 Published : 2020-03-01

Keywords: meat quality, Fatty Acids, beef, healthy nutrition, veal,

Abstract :

Meat productions from sixteen local Portuguese cattle breeds represent high economic and cultural value for local populations. Among these, Minhota is one of the most important on meat aptitude located on the northwest of the country. This breed is used for high-quality meat. This study describes the influence of slaughter age, corresponding veal (6 months) and beef (9 months) and sex, reared in a traditional production system, on intramuscular fatty acid composition of the longissimus muscle and nutritional quality. Samples of the longissimusthoracis (LT) muscle were analysed for fatty acid composition of intramuscular fat from 41 Minhota breed animals. Unweaned veal (22) and beef (19), corresponding to males (n=25) and females (n=16) were analysed. Both groups of animals were reared in a traditional production system. The meat from the Minhota breed is a valuable source of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), particularly the C-20 and C-22 n-3 fatty acids in the human diet. A low n-6:n-3 ratio show that fat in this breed has a good nutritional value. The differences in fat composition from veal and beef could be attributed to the fact that maternal suckling is more important in the youngest animals.