Beef Nutritional Characteristics, Fat Profile and Blood Metabolic Markers from Purebred Wagyu, Crossbred Wagyu and Crossbred European Steers Raised on a Fattening Farm in Spain
Juan M. Vázquez-Mosquera,
Aitor Fernandez-Novo,
Eduardo de Mercado,
Marta Vázquez-Gómez,
Juan C. Gardon,
José L. Pesántez-Pacheco,
Ángel Revilla-Ruiz,
Raquel Patrón-Collantes,
Maria L. Pérez-Solana,
Arantxa Villagrá,
Daniel Martínez,
Francisco Sebastián,
Sonia S. Pérez-Garnelo,
Susana Astiz
Affiliations
Juan M. Vázquez-Mosquera
Medicine and Surgery Department, Veterinary Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, Puerta de Hierro Avenue s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Aitor Fernandez-Novo
Department of Veterinary Medicine, School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, C/Tajo s/n, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain
Eduardo de Mercado
Animal Reproduction Department, National Institute of Agronomic Research (INIA-CSIC), Puerta de Hierro Avenue s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Marta Vázquez-Gómez
Nutrition and Obesities: Systemic Approaches Research Unit (NutriOmics), Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM), Sorbonne Université, 75006 Paris, France
Juan C. Gardon
Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary and Experimental Sciences School, Catholic University of Valencia-San Vicente Mártir, Guillem de Castro, 94, 46001 Valencia, Spain
José L. Pesántez-Pacheco
School of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Cuenca, Doce de Octubre Avenue, Cuenca 010150, Ecuador
Ángel Revilla-Ruiz
Medicine and Surgery Department, Veterinary Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, Puerta de Hierro Avenue s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Raquel Patrón-Collantes
Medicine and Surgery Department, Veterinary Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, Puerta de Hierro Avenue s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Maria L. Pérez-Solana
Animal Reproduction Department, National Institute of Agronomic Research (INIA-CSIC), Puerta de Hierro Avenue s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
A high intramuscular fat content characterizes Wagyu (WY) cattle breed. Our objective was to compare beef from WY, WY-by-Angus, or Wangus (WN) steers with European, Angus-by-Charolais-Limousine crossbred steers (ACL), considering metabolic biomarkers pre-slaughtering and nutritional characteristics, including health-related indexes of the lipid fraction. The fattening system with olein-rich diets and no exercise restriction included 82 steers, 24 WY, 29 WN, and 29 ACL. The slaughter ages and weights were (median and interquartile range) 38.4 mo.-old (34.9–40.3 mo.) and 840 kg (785–895 kg) for WY; for WN, 30.6 mo. (26.9–36.5 mo.) and 832 kg (802–875 kg), and for ACL steers, 20.3 mo.-old (19.0–22.7 mo.) and 780 kg (715–852 kg). Blood lipid-related metabolites, except for non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and low-density level cholesterol (LDL), were higher in WY and WN than in ACL, while glucose was lower in WY and WN. Leptin was higher in WN than in ACL. Pre-slaughtering values of plasma HDL underscored as a possible metabolic biomarker directly related to beef quality. The amino-acid content in beef did not differ among experimental groups, except for more crude protein in ACL. Compared to ACL, WY steers showed higher intramuscular fat in sirloin (51.5 vs. 21.9%) and entrecote (59.6 vs. 27.6%), more unsaturated fatty acids in entrecote (55.8 vs. 53.0%), and more oleic acid in sirloin (46 vs. 41.3%) and entrecote (47.5 vs. 43.3%). Compared to ACL entrecote, WY and WN showed better atherogenic (0.6 and 0.55 vs. 0.69), thrombogenicity (0.82 and 0.92 vs. 1.1), and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic index (1.9 and 2.1 vs. 1.7). Therefore, beef’s nutritional characteristics depend on breed/crossbred, slaughtering age and cut, with WY and WN entrecote samples showing a healthier lipid fraction.
