Nutritional value of suckler beef from temperate pasture systems

The role of beef in human diets has been questioned over the last few decades, due largely to its typically high mass-based carbon footprint. However, recent advancements in sustainability literature challenge this paradigm based on the new theory that climate impacts of food commodities should be measured relative to their overall nutritional value rather than their nominal mass. This shift has opened a new opportunity for the global beef industry, and especially for pasture-based systems that can avoid food-feed competition for land and other resources, as beef is a nutritionally dense food. Nonetheless, the sector’s true capability to supply a wide range of nutrients for humans, consistently across multiple systems under multiple weather patterns, has not been well-documented. Using whole-system datasets from the North Wyke Farm Platform in the South West of England, we investigated the nutritional value of beef produced from the three most common pasture systems in temperate regions: permanent pasture (PP), grass and white clover (GWC) and a short-term monoculture grass ley (MG). Beef produced from these three pasture systems was analysed for key nutrients (fatty acids, minerals and vitamin E) over three production cycles (2015–2017) to determine potential differences between systems. Fatty acid, mineral and vitamin E profiles of the pasture and silage fed to each group were also assessed, with subtle differences between pastures reported. For beef, subtle differences were also observed between systems, with GWC having higher omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentrations than PP and MG. However, the overall nutritional quality of beef was found to be largely comparable across all systems, suggesting that temperate pasture-based beef can be classified as a single commodity in future sustainability assessments, regardless of specific sward types. A 100 g serving of temperate pasture-based beef was found to be a high source (>20% recommended daily intake: RDI) of protein, monounsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, vitamins – B2, B3, B12 and minerals – Fe, P, Zn; a good source (10–19% RDI) of vitamin – B6 and mineral – K; and a complementary source (5–9% RDI) of omega-3 PUFA, vitamin – B9 and minerals – Cu, Mg, Se. The nutritional value of a food item should be used in defining its environmental cost (e.g. carbon footprint) to make fair comparisons across different food groups (e.g. protein sources). Here, we showed that pasture-based beef had a nutrient indexed carbon footprint of between 0.19 and 0.23 Kg CO2-eq/1% RDI of key nutrients

Taking the steps toward sustainable livestock: our multidisciplinary global farm platform journey

International audienc

Key traits for ruminant livestock across diverse production systems in the context of climate change: perspectives from a global platform of research farms

Ruminant livestock are raised under diverse cultural and environmental production systems around the globe. Ruminant livestock can play a critical role in food security by supplying high-quality, nutrient-dense food with little or no competition for arable land while simultaneously improving soil health through vital returns of organic matter. However, in the context of climate change and limited land resources, the role of ruminant-based systems is uncertain because of their reputed low efficiency of feed conversion (kilogram of feed required per kilogram of product) and the production of methane as a by-product of enteric fermentation. A growing human population will demand more animal protein, which will put greater pressure on the Earth’s planetary boundaries and contribute further to climate change. Therefore, livestock production globally faces the dual challenges of mitigating emissions and adapting to a changing climate. This requires research-led animal and plant breeding and feeding strategies to optimise ruminant systems. This study collated information from a global network of research farms reflecting a variety of ruminant production systems in diverse regions of the globe. Using this information, key changes in the genetic and nutritional approaches relevant to each system were drawn that, if implemented, would help shape more sustainable future ruminant livestock systems

Track D Social Science, Human Rights and Political Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138414/1/jia218442.pd

The role of pasture in the diet of ruminant livestock

Grazed pasture is the single most important forage feed for ruminants due to its low unit cost and widespread global availability. However, there is a growing use of arable crops in ruminant rations, which may exceed that used by humans by 2050. This chapter describes the ways in which grazed pasture provides the energy, proteins, minerals and vitamins and other nutritional factors required by ruminants. The chapter shows that the use of pasture and its by-products underpins the possibility of sustainably delivering future ruminant livestock production systems and ensuring their future role in food security

The role of pasture in the diet of ruminant livestock

Grazed pasture is the single most important forage feed for ruminants due to its low unit cost and widespread global availability. However, there is a growing use of arable crops in ruminant rations, which may exceed that used by humans by 2050. This chapter describes the ways in which grazed pasture provides the energy, proteins, minerals and vitamins and other nutritional factors required by ruminants. The chapter shows that the use of pasture and its by-products underpins the possibility of sustainably delivering future ruminant livestock production systems and ensuring their future role in food security

Fabrikation av konstgjord brosk med primära broskceller

Hyaline cartilage is a highly specialized tissue, which plays an important role in the articulating joints of an individual. It provides the joints with a nearly frictionless, impact resisting surface to protect the ends of the articulating bones. Articular cartilage has a poor self-repair capacity and, therefore, it rarely heals back to normal after an injury. Overweight, injuries, overloading and genetic factors may initiate a degenerative disease of the joint called osteoarthritis. Osteoarthiritis is a major global public health issue. Currently, the most used treatment for large articular cartilage defects is joint replacement surgery. However, possibilities to replace this highly invasive operation with strategies based on tissue engineering are currently investigated. The idea of the tissue engineering is to optimize the use of the cells, biomaterials and culture conditions to regenerate a new functional tissue for the defect site. The goal of this thesis was to manufacture cartilage tissue in cell culture conditions in vitro. Bovine primary chondrocytes isolated from the femoral condyles were used in all the experiments for neocartilage production. The samples were collected for histology, gene expression level quantifications, and analyses of proteoglycan (PG) content and quality. The histological sections were stained for type II collagen and PGs, the quantitative RT-PCR was used to observe the relative expressions of aggrecan, Sox9, procollagen α2(I) and procollagen α1(II) genes. The PGs were quantified using a spectrophotometric method, and agarose gel electrophoresis was used to separate the PGs according to their size. In the two first studies, we optimized the culture conditions of in vitro scaffold-free culture technique to produce the native-type hyaline cartilage of a good quality. We found out that high glucose concentration and hypertonic medium at 20% oxygen tension promoted the best hyaline-like neocartilage tissue production. Glucosamine sulfate supplementation, low oxygen tension, 5 mM glucose concentration and a transient TGF-β3 supplementation were not beneficial for the neocartilage formation in the scaffold-free cell culture system. In the third study, we used these newly defined, optimized culture conditions to produce the neocartilage tissues in the HyStem™ and the HydroMatrix™ scaffold materials and we compared these tissues to the ones grown as scaffold-free control cultures. We noticed that there was no difference between the controls and the scaffolds, and occasionally the scaffold-free controls had produced better quality cartilage than the ones with the scaffolds. Overall, the neocartilage tissues were of good hyaline-like quality in the third study. Their extracellular matrix contents were close to the native cartilage, although the neotissues lacked the zonal organization typical to the normal articular cartilage. The tissues had the right components, but their ultrastructure differed from the native cartilage. In conclusion, we were able to optimize our in vitro neocartilage culture method further, and discovered a good combination of the culture conditions to produce hyaline-like cartilage of good quality. Surprisingly, the scaffold materials were not beneficial for the cartilage formation.  Lasi- eli hyaliinirusto on pitkälle erikoistunutta kudosta, jolla on erittäin tärkeä rooli yksilön nivelten toiminnassa. Kudos suojaa ruston alapuolista luuta muodostamalla lähes kitkattoman ja joustavan liikkumista helpottavan pinnan. Lasiruston oma uusiutumiskyky on hyvin heikko, ja näin ollen kudos vain harvoin paranee alkuperäisen kaltaiseksi vaurion jälkeen. Ylipaino, vammat, liiallinen kuormitus tai geneettiset tekijät voivat käynnistää rustokudoksen rappeutumisen. Tätä tilaa kutsutaan nivelrikoksi. Nivelrikko on valtava kansanterveydellinen ongelma. Keinonivelleikkaus on nykyisellään ainoa hoitokeino pinta-alaltaan laajojen nivelruston vaurioiden hoitoon. Vaihtoehtoja tämän suuren ja invasiivisen kirurgisen operaation korvaamiseksi tutkitaan kuitenkin koko ajan ympäri maailmaa. Kudosteknologian ajatuksena on optimoida solujen, biomateriaalien ja erilaisten kasvatusolosuhteiden käyttö uuden, alkuperäisen kaltaisen toiminnallisen kudoksen luomiseksi vauriokohtaan. Väitöskirjan kaikissa kolmessa osatutkimuksessa uudisrustokudoksia tuotettiin käyttäen naudan polven rustosta eristettyjä primäärisiä rustosoluja. Näytteet kerättiin histologisia analyysejä, geenin ilmentymistutkimuksia ja proteoglykaanisisällön ja -jakauman (PG) analyyseja varten. Histologisista leikkeistä värjättiin tyypin II kollageeni ja PG:t, ja kvantitatiivista RT-PCR -menetelmää käytettiin aggrekaani-, Sox9-, prokollageeni α2(I)- ja prokollageeni α1(II)-geenien suhteellisten ilmentymistasojen määrittämiseen. Proteoglykaanisisältö analysoitiin käyttäen spektrofotometristä menetelmää, ja PG:t eroteltiin kokonsa perusteella agaroosigeelielektroforeesia käyttäen. Kahdessa ensimmäisessä osatutkimuksessa optimoitiin tukirakenteetta kasvattujen uudisrustojen kasvatusolosuhteita natiivin kaltaisen lasiruston tuottamiseksi. Havaitsimme, että korkea glukoosipitoisuus ja hypertoninen elatusaine yhdistettynä 20 % happiosapaineeseen tuotti parhaimman laatuista uudisrustokudosta tutkituista yhdistelmistä. Glukosamiinisulfaatin lisäys, matala happiosapaine, 5 mM glukoosi konsentraatio tai TGF-β3:n lisääminen alkuvaiheessa eivät edesauttaneet uudisrustokudosten muodostumisessa. Kolmannessa osatutkimuksessa otettiin käyttöön uudet, hyväksi havaitut kasvatusolosuhteet yhdistettynä HyStem™ and HydroMatrix™ -tukimateriaaleihin, ja niitä verrattiin tukirakenteettomaan kasvatusmenetelmään. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, ettei tukirakenteettoman kontrollin tai tukimateriaalien välillä ollut mitään eroa, ja että kontrollikasvatukset tuottivat ajoittain jopa parempaa rustoa kuin tukimateriaalein kasvatetut. Kaiken kaikkiaan kaikki tuotetut uudiskudokset muistuttivat laadullisesti lasiruston kaltaista kudosta. Molekyylisisältö lähenteli natiivia rustoa, vaikkakin uudiskudoksista puuttui normaalille nivelrustolle tyypillinen vyöhykkeinen järjestäytyminen. Kudoksissa oli parhaimmillaan oikea määrä oikeita komponentteja, mutta ne eivät vain olleet järjestäytyneet oikealla tavalla. Onnistuimme optimoimaan uudisrustokudosten kasvatusmenetelmäämme. Löysimme hyvän kasvatusolosuhteiden yhdistelmän, jonka avulla kykenimme tuottamaan lasiruston kaltaista uudisrustokudosta. Hivenen yllättäenkin, tukimateriaalit eivät olleet avuksi tutkimuksessamme uudisrustokudoksia muodostettaessa