Blanco Alibés, Mireia

Casasús Pueyo, Isabel

Joy Torrens, Margalida

Molino Gahete, Francisco

Ripoll García, Guillermo

citaREA Repositorio Electrónico Agroalimentario

Options Méditerranéennes, A, no. 109, 2014 – Forage resources and ecosystemservices provided by Mountain and Mediterranean grasslands and rangelands817Carotenoids and tocopherol in plasmaand fat to authenticate forage feeding in cattleM. Blanco1, F. Molino, G. Ripoll, I. Casasús and M. Joy1Unidad de Tecnología en Producción Animal, CITA de AragónAvda de Montañana 930, 50059 Zaragoza, (Spain)*e-mail: mblanco@aragon.esAbstract. Forage-feeding in cattle carcasses can be authenticated using an estimator of carotenoid pigmentconcentration (SUM). Therefore, it is suggested that plasmatic carotenoids and α-tocopherol could be usedto authenticate it in vivo. Plasmatic concentrations of carotenoids and α-tocopherol, fat colour and SUM werestudied in concentrate-fed bulls (C) and two groups of steers until slaughter (500 kg). Both groups of steerswere fed a total mixed ration (50% lucerne hay + 10% straw+ 40% corn) during 159 days (winter) and grazedon a mountain meadow plus 1.8 kg DM corn/d for 85 days. Thereafter, one group was finished on a mead-ow (G) plus 1.8 kg DM corn/d for 75 days and the other group was finished by means of a total mixed rationduring 55 days (finishing period) (TMR). During winter, G and TMR steers had greater plasmatic carotenoidsconcentrations than C bulls (P <0.001). Conversely, C bulls had greater plasmatic α-tocopherol concentra-tion than both groups of steers on day 29 (P < 0.001) and 55 (P < 0.05) but similar thereafter. During the fin-ishing period, G steers had greater plasmatic β-carotene, lutein and α-tocopherol concentrations than TMRsteers (P < 0.001). Fat colour of G steers had lower lightness but greater yellowness and SUM than C bulls.Steers finished with TMR had intermediate values for lightness and yellowness. Plasmatic carotenoids con-tent and SUM were useful to detect differences in diet.Keywords. Authenticate – Forage – Cattle – Carotenoids.Caroténoïdes et tocopherol dans le plasma et les tissus adipeux pour authentifier l’alimentation four-ragère chez le bovinRésumé. Une alimentation à base de fourrages peut être authentifiée par l’estimation de la concentration encaroténoïdes (SUM) dans les tissus adipeux de la carcasse, mais la concentration plasmatique en caroténoïdespourrait l’authentifier in vivo. Les concentrations en caroténoïdes et tocopherol dans le plasma, ainsi que la cou-leur et le SUM des tissus adipeux ont été étudiés sur des taurillons alimentés avec des rations à base deconcentré (C) et sur deux groupes de bouvillons alimentés en hiver avec une ration mixte complète (50% luzer-ne foin + 10% paille + 40% maïs grain: 159 jours), puis au pâturage. Après 85 jours de pâture les bouvillons ontété, soit finis au pâturage pendant 75 jours (G), soit ont reçu la ration mixte complète pendant 55 jours (TMR).Au pâturage, tous les bovins ont reçu 1,8 kg MS maïs/j. Pendant l’hiver, les bouvillons G et TMR ont eu desconcentrations en caroténoïdes plus élevées que les taurillons. À l’inverse, les taurillons C ont eu une teneurplus élevée en α-tocopherol que les bouvillons les jours 29 (P < 0,001) et 55 (P < 0,05), mais similaire par lasuite. Pendant la finition, le groupe G a eu des concentrations en caroténoïdes et α-tocopherol plus élevéesque le groupe TMR (P < 0,001). Le tissu adipeux des bouvillons G a été moins lumineux et plus jaune que celuides taureaux C, alors que les TMR ont eu des valeurs intermédiaires. En conclusion les teneurs plasmatiquesen caroténoïdes et SUM peuvent servir à détecter des différences du régime alimentaire.Mots-clés. Authentification – Fourrages – Bovins – Caroténoïdes.I – IntroductionIn dry mountain areas, forage has been introduced in the diets at the expense of concentrates main-ly due to the increase of cereal prices and to satisfy the societal demands regarding environmentaland ethical concerns about food production (Bernués et al., 2011). Nowadays, consumers associ-ate healthy beef with grazed cattle, fed with natural feedstuffs and raised outdoors (Verbeke et al.,2010) and there is an increasing interest in guaranteeing the traceability of these production sys-tems. The authentication of forage feeding in meat from ruminants can be achieved by measuringcarotenoid pigments in plasma and fat deposits. Carcasses form forage-fed cattle can be accuratelytraced by measuring subcutaneous fat colour (Dunne et al., 2009, Blanco et al., 2011). In order todetect forage feeding in vivo, carotenoids content in serum have been investigated (Serrano et al.,2006). Our objective was to study the evolution of carotenoids and α-tocopherol during the fatten-ing period to check the feasibility of their use to trace forage feeding in beef cattle.II – Materials and methods1. AnimalsThis study was conducted in La Garcipollera Research Station, located in the Spanish Pyrenees(Spain, 42º37’ N, 0º30’W; 945 m a.s.l.) and in CITA Research Centre, located in the Ebro Valley(41° 43’ N, 0° 48’ W; 225 m a.s.l.). During the winter housing period, a group of 8 intact youngbulls (C) received commercial concentrates plus straw until they reached the target slaughterweight (500 kg) and 2 groups of steers received a total mixed ration (50% lucerne hay + 10%straw + 40% corn) until mid-April. Both groups of steers rotationally grazed together in valley mea -dows and were supplemented with 1.8 kg DM corn/day/head during 85 days. Thereafter, onegroup of steers (G; n = 8) remained on the meadows during 75 days with 1.8 kg DM corn/head/dayuntil they reached the target slaughter weight and the second one (TMR; n = 8) was finished for55 days with the same total mixed ration fed during the winter period.2. SamplingSamples of the different feedstuffs were collected fortnightly. They were immediately frozen andfreeze-dried. The animals were bled monthly except for the first two months of the grazing sea-son and the first month of the finishing period, when they were bled weekly.Fat cover was scored on a 15-point scale at 24 hours post-mortem. Subcutaneous fat colour atthe 10th rib was measured with a Minolta CM-2006d spectrophotometer. The estimator of fat ca -rotenoid pigments content (SUM) was calculated as proposed by Prache and Theriez (1999).3. Analyses of carotenoids and tocopherol concentrationsThe contents of β-carotene, lutein and α-tocopherol were determined by HPLC following the pro-cedures of Chauveau-Duriot et al. (2010). The analyses were modified for the determination inplasma as described by Molino et al. (2012). The dry residues were dissolved in 0.5 ml of ace-tonitrile–dichloromethane–methanol (75–10–15). HPLC was run on a HPLC 1100 Agilentequipped with a photodiode array detector. β-carotene and lutein were detected at 450 nm, andα-tocopherol at 295 nm.III – Results and discussionAverage carotenoids and α-tocopherol contents of the feedstuffs used in the experiment are de -tailed in Table 1. Pasture contents remained unchanged during the grazing season (data notshown). However, Dunne et al. (2009) reported that carotenoids in pasture are affected by sea-son. In the current study, the meadow was rotationally grazed, thus, the stage of maturity of con-sumed pasture was probably constant throughout the grazing season.Options Méditerranéennes, A, no. 109, 2014818Both groups of steers had greater plasmatic β-carotene and lutein concentrations than C bullsthroughout the winter feeding period, reflecting differences in carotenoid intakes (Serrano et al.,2006). However, both groups of steers had lower plasmatic α-tocopherol concentration than Cbulls on day 29 and 55 (P < 0.05) (Fig. 1), which is a result of the greater content of α-tocopherolin the concentrate. When the steers were turned out to pasture, the plasmatic carotenoids andα-tocopherol concentrations increased in both groups of steers, which had similar plasmatic con-centrations during the first 85 days of the grazing season.Forage resources and ecosystem services provided by Mountainand Mediterranean grasslands and rangelands819Table 1. β-carotene, lutein and α-tocopherol concentrations in the feedstuffsLucerne hay Straw Concentrate Pasture Cornβ-carotene, mg/kg DM 1.3 ± 0.42 n.d. n.d. 370.7 ± 12.27 n.d.Lutein, mg/kg DM 9.0 ± 0.32 0.6 ± 0.02 n.d. 232.1 ± 2.17 1.4 ± 0.05α-tocopherol, mg/kg DM 2.1 ± 0.14 2.1 ± 0.10 6† 117.2 ± 13.75 1.3 ± 0.46† Incorporated in the concentrate as 10 mg/kg of tocopheryl acetate n.d.: not detected.Fig. 1. Plasmatic β-carotene and lutein concentrations according to the management strategy through-out the experimental period. G: grazing steers; TMR: indoors finished steers; C: concentrate-fed bulls. Within a date, means with different letters differ at P<0.05.As carotenoids and α-tocopherol contents in pasture did not change through the grazing season,the increase in the plasmatic concentration would reflect an increase in forage intake. During fin-ishing, G steers had greater plasmatic carotenoids and α-tocopherol concentrations than TMRsteers, as consequence of the sharp decrease observed when steers started eating the totalmixed ration, based on dry-preserved forages and grain.Fat of both groups of steers had greater yellowness, redness and SUM than that of C bulls sinceyellowness is caused by carotenoids of green forage (Dunne et al., 2009). Regarding fat colourdifferences between both groups of steers, the 55 day finishing period on a low carotenoid con-tent diet after grazing only affected fat yellowness and Chroma (Table 2). These results agreepartially with those reported by Blanco et al. (2011) and Serrano et al. (2006). In both studies, alow carotenoid diet (concentrates or hay) reduced fat yellowness and SUM after 58 and 150days, respectively. However, as carotenoids deposition in fat depends on the amount of fat accu-mulated during finishing (Dunne et al., 2009), when SUM was covariated with subcutaneous fatscore, G steers had greater SUM than TMR steers (368 vs. 325, P = 0.03).Options Méditerranéennes, A, no. 109, 2014820Table 2. Effect of the management strategy on the subcutaneous fat colour and estimator of carotenoidpigments content in fat (SUM)G TMR C s.e.m. Pr > FLightness (L*) 68.3b 71.2ab 72.8a 1.9 0.03Redness (a*) 2.8a 2.7a 1.4b 0.6 0.02Yellowness (b*) 18.1a 16.3b 9.2c 0.9 0.001Chroma (C*) 18.4a 16.5b 9.4c 0.9 0.001SUM 353a 334a 140b 26.2 0.001Covariated with fatness score 368a 327b 133c 21.1 0.001G: grazing steers; TMR: indoors finished steers; C: concentrate-fed bulls. Within a parameter, means with dif-ferent letters differ at P<0.05.IV – ConclusionsSubcutaneous fat colour and SUM are useful to trace forage feeding in carcass. Both β-caroteneand lutein in plasma were useful to detect differences in diets in growing cattle. However, plas-matic α-tocopherol concentration is not useful to trace forage-feeding because it is usually addedto commercial concentrates.AcknowledgmentsThe authors gratefully acknowledge the staff of the CITA Research Centre for technical support.Research funded by Convenio Gobierno de Aragón-La Caixa (GA-LC-01/2009) and INIA-ERDF(RZP 2009-05, RZP 2010-02, RTA 2010-57).ReferencesBernués A., Ruiz R., Olaizola A., Villalba D. and Casasús I., 2011. Sustainability of pasture-based live-stock farming systems in the European Mediterranean context: Synergies and trade-offs. LivestockScience, 139, p. 44-57.Blanco M., Casasús I., Ripoll G., Sauerwein H. and Joy M., 2011. Grazing lucerne as fattening manage-ment for young bulls: technical and economic performance, and diet authentication. Animal, 5, p. 113-122.Chauveau-Duriot B., Doreau M., Noziere P. and Graulet B., 2010. Simultaneous quantification of carote -noids, retinol, and tocopherols in forages, bovine plasma, and milk: validation of a novel UPLC method.Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 397, p. 777-790.Dunne P.G., Monahan F.J., O’Mara F.P. and Moloney A.P., 2009. Colour of bovine subcutaneous adiposetissue: A review of contributory factors, associations with carcass and meat quality and its potential utili-ty in authentication of dietary history. Meat Science, 81, p. 28-45.Molino F., Blanco M., Calvo J.H. and Joy M., 2012. Easy, fast and economic determination method of lu -tein, tocopherol isoforms, tocopherol acetate and b-carotene contents in meat. Book of Abstracts of theXII Scientific Meeting of SECYTA 2012. FOA10. Ed Departament de Química Analítica y Orgánica Uni -versitat Rovira I Virgili. ISBN 978-84.616-1017-4.Prache S. and Theriez M., 1999. Traceability of lamb production systems: carotenoids in plasma and adipo -se tissue. Animal Science, 69, p. 29-36.Serrano E., Prache S., Chauveau-Duriot B., Agabriel J. and Micol D., 2006. Traceability of grass-feedingin young beef using carotenoid pigments in plasma and adipose tissue. Animal Science, 82, p. 909-918.Verbeke W., Pérez-Cueto F.J.A., Barcellos M.Dd., Krystallis A. and Grunert K.G., 2010. European citizenand consumer attitudes and preferences regarding beef and pork. Meat Science, 84, p. 284-292.Forage resources and ecosystem services provided by Mountainand Mediterranean grasslands and rangelands821

Carotenoids and tocopherol in plasma and fat to authenticate forage feeding in cattle

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Carotenoids and tocopherol in plasma and fat to authenticate forage feeding in cattle

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