Pro Beef

Enhancing beef quality – Probeef

The quality of food is becoming increasingly important to consumers. For meat, the definition of quality is becoming increasingly complex as it encompasses not merely the physical aspects of the meat such as tenderness, juiciness, flavour but also incorporates more important issues such as safety, traceability, healthiness and production environment. Consumers are progressively more aware of the relationships between diet and health, and hence for food this is becoming a more important dimension of product quality.

Beef is considered to be a highly nutritious and valued food. The importance of meat as a source of high biological value protein and micronutrients (including for example vitamins A, B6, B12, D, E, iron, zinc, selenium) is well recognised. However, fat and composition of that fat is an important area of discussion. The fat typically consists of approximately up 45, 50 and 5% as saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively. The polyunsaturated component includes the beneficial omega (n-3) PUFA (eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docasahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3)) and is an important vehicle for the delivery of beneficial fats through to man.

ProBeef has confirmed the higher levels on omega-3 fatty acids in meat from cattle fed on grass-based diets. This is because grass, even though it is low in fat, contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. The project also demonstrated that there is much variation in fat and fat composition in genetic populations, held at IBERS-Aberystwyth. This is good news as it allows our grass breeders to select for grass material that is higher in fat and containing a higher proportion of omega-3 fat. Higher levels of fat in our grasses would be helpful as fat is high in energy and this lack of energy is one of the key factors limiting growth of cattle on forage-based diets. This work is being taken forward in a new project examining fat in grasses, in which HCC are a partner.

Probeef also highlighted the need to further understand how grass fats are digested and metabolised in the rumen by the microbial population to help formulate new ways of further improving composition of fat in beef, and indeed other ruminant products, including milk.

Aim

The overall objective of the project is to investigate key factors influencing the delivery of beneficial lipids from plants through to beef muscle. The project will investigate the potential for breeding perennial ryegrass varieties with a higher content of n-3 PUFA. Beef production experiments will then investigate the effect of increasing the levels of n-3 PUFAs in the cattle’s diet on the fatty acid composition of beef, shelf life and sensory attributes of the meat.

Why is it important?

Although the consumption of beef in the UK is continuing to rise, the UK beef industry has to compete in a global market. It is therefore, more important than ever that beef is produced more efficiently and the end product is more customer focussed. Increased health consciousness among consumers has led to a growing preference for healthier, more nutritious and more functional foods.

The impact of enriching the n-3 PUFA content of beef on atherosclerosis (a major cause of heart disease in man) will be assessed as the project seeks to demonstrate the positive effects of improving the nutritional value of beef.

How does the project work?

There are 5 parts to this project;

1. Assess the degree of variation in fatty acid composition of perennial ryegrass.
2. Examine interactions between plant components and events in the rumen which determine the ability of different plants to manipulate the fatty acid composition of beef.
3. Investigate the ability of plant-based feeding strategies to produce beef with an enhanced content of beneficial fatty acids.
4. Assess the impact of plant-based feeding strategies on meat quality: fatty acid composition, colour shelf life and sensory attributes.
5. Assess the effect of nutritionally-enhanced beef on plasma lipids and lipoproteins and the development of atherosclerosis.

Who is doing the work?
The work is being done at IBERS at Aberystwyth University, the University of Bristol and the University of Nottingham.

This project is linked to a much larger EU funded project entitled ‘ProSafeBeef’ which will examine the role that forage can play in modifying the fatty acid composition and quality of beef and the resulting effect on health in man.

Click the links to view the full report and appendix.