Lipid rich diet from sunflower seeds can alter the proportion of fatty acids on hybrid Beefalo × Nellore cattle

• Published in: Tropical animal health and production Vol. 53; no. 1; p. 162
• Main Authors: Ítavo, Luís Carlos Vinhas, Ítavo, Camila Celeste Brandão Ferreira, Dias, Alexandre Menezes, de Nadai Bonin Gomes, Marina, da Silva, Aline Gomes, Leal, Eduardo Souza, Pereira, Marília Williani Filgueira, da Silva Pereira, Camila, dos Santos, Geraldo Tadeu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-12-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Feed - analysis; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carcasses; Cattle; Diet; Diet - veterinary; Dry matter; Fatty Acids; Female; Helianthus; Helianthus annuus; Life Sciences; Lipids; Meat; Meat - analysis; Regular Articles; Seeds; Sunflowers; Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science; Zoology; Oilseeds; Fatty acids; Lipid; Meat quality
• ISSN: 0049-4747; 1573-7438
• DOI: 10.1007/s11250-021-02615-4

We evaluated the lipid level effects in the diet on performance, carcass, and meat characteristics of forty-eight steers and heifers, F1 Beefalo (
Bostaurus taurus × Bison bison
hybrid) × Nellore (
Bos taurus indicus
), 22 months old, being 24 steers (393.2 ± 15 kg) and 24 heifers (278.4 ± 8 kg). The animals were distributed in a completely randomized design in a 4 × 2 factorial scheme (lipid levels in diet 55-, 65-, 75-, and 85-g/kg dry matter obtained by whole sunflower grain
Helianthus annuus
and two sexes). Increased amounts of sunflower grain in diet linearly reduce the proportion of saturated fatty acids (FA) in longissimus thoracis. Diets containing up to 85 g/kg of lipid can be used without negative effects on intake, carcass, and meat quality of Beefalo-Nellore steers and heifers and can be an effective strategy to reduce the proportion of saturated FA and increase unsaturated FA on the meat, which can be beneficial for human consumption.