Fatty acid profile and meat quality of muscles from crossbred Angus-Simmental, Wagyu-Simmental, and Chinese Simmental cattles

This study assessed breed differences in fatty acid composition and meat quality of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) and semitendinosus (SE) of Angus x Chinese Simmental (AS), Wagyu x Chinese Simmental (WS), and Chinese Simmental (CS). CS (n=9), AS (n=9) and WS (n=9) were randomly selected from a herd of 80 bulls which were fed and managed under similar conditions. Fatty acid profile and meat quality parameters were analyzed in duplicate. Significant breed difference was observed in fatty acid and meat quality profiles. AS exhibited significantly (P < 0.05) lower C16:0 and higher C18:1n9c compared with CS. AS breed also had a tendency (P < 0.10) to lower total SFA, improve C18:3n3 and total UFA compared with CS. Crossbreed of AS and WS had significantly (P < 0.05) improved the lightness, redness, and yellowness of muscles, and lowered cooking loss, pressing loss, and shear force compared with CS. These results indicated that fatty acid composition and meat quality generally differed among breeds, although the differences were not always similar in different tissues. Fatty acid composition, meat color, water holding capacity, and tenderness favored AS over CS. Thus, Angus cattle might be used to improve fatty acid and meat quality profiles of CS, and AS might contain better nutritive value, organoleptic properties, and flavor, and could be potentially developed as an ideal commercial crossbreed.