Effect of Breed on the Level of the Nutritional and Health-Promoting Quality of Semimembranosus Muscle in Purebred and Crossbred Bulls

摘要

Beef is an important natural source of nutrients as well as of bioactive ingredients that improve our health. It is an excellent source of alanine, creatine, carnosine, anserine, and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), which plays an important preventative role in carcinogenic processes. The strategy for rearing and feeding cattle for slaughter should be directed at reducing saturated fatty acid (SFA) in beef fat and/or increasing PUFA, especially n-3. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the influence of breed types on the nutritional and pro-health quality of beef. The experiment was conducted in Poland, on 62 bulls from three breeds: Limousin, Polish Holstein-Friesian, and Polish Holstein-Friesian × Limousin. Bulls were slaughtered at 21–23 months of age, and samples of semimembranosus muscle (300 g) were cut parallel to the muscle axis at 24 h postmortem. It can be concluded that commodity crossbreeding significantly improved the quality of beef, resulting in similar or even better results than purebred cattle.