Long chain fatty acids profile and meat quality of feedlot finished steers with different levels of sodium monensin at the diet

摘要

> size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The chemical composition and meat quality of 48 feedlot finished Charolais-Nellore steers, fed ad libitum with a 52% corn silage and 48% concentrate, diet that included 0, 100 or 200mg/day of sodium monensin, were evaluated in a completely randomized design. Diets contained 12.3% of crude protein and 58.3% of neutral detergent fibre. Monensin was mixed with the concentrate. Monensin addition did not alter the Longissimus dorsi muscle content of dry matter, crude protein and ether extract (P0.05), nor influenced meat thawing or cooking losses, shear force, tenderness, color and marbling (P0.05). However, the palatability and juiciness decreased linearly with monensin addition (P0.05). On the other hand, meat texture varied in a quadratic way as monensin level increased (P0,05). Ionophore inclusion did not influence saturated to unsaturated fatty acids ratio (P0.05), but increased linearly the content of oleate cis and trans isomers (C18:1 n9c e C18:1 n9t). Although the proportion of these specific fatty acids increased, monensin addition reduced meat quality, mainly by decreasing palatability and juiciness.