Abstract
Meat from Holstein and crossbred organic and conventional dairy steers were evaluated
and compared for fatty acid profiles, meat quality, sensory attributes, and consumer
acceptance. Bull calves (n = 49) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 replicated groups: conventional (CONV), organic
(ORG, pasture + concentrate), or grass-fed organic (GRS) and were born at the University
of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (Morris, MN) between March
and May 2011. The CONV steers (n = 16) were fed a diet that contained 80% concentrate and 20% forage, and ORG steers
(n = 16) were fed a diet of organic corn, organic corn silage, and organic protein supplement.
Furthermore, ORG steers consumed at least 30% of diet dry matter of high-quality organic
pasture during the grazing season. The GRS steers (n = 17) consumed 100% forage from pasture during the grazing season and high-quality hay
or hay silage during the nongrazing season. The ORG steers had fat that was greater
in oleic acid (C18:1) than the GRS and CONV steers (47.1, 36.1, and 39.9%, respectively).
The GRS steers (21.9%) were lower for monounsaturated fat than the ORG (42.1%) and
CONV (40.4%) steers. Furthermore, the GRS steers tended to have greater n-3 fat and
had lower n-6 fat than the ORG and CONV steers. Consequently, the GRS (1.4%) steers
had a lower n-6-to-n-3 fat ratio than the ORG (12.9%) and CONV (10.0%) steers. The
GRS (2.6 kg) steers had steaks that were not different for Warner-Bratzler shear force than
ORG (2.3 kg) steaks; however, the GRS steaks tended to have greater shear force than the CONV
(2.0 kg) steaks. The 3 steer group had steaks that were not different for color brightness
(L*; 0 = black and 100 = white) and yellowness/blueness (b*; positive values = yellow
and negative values = blue) values; however, the GRS (10.5) steaks had lower redness/greenness
(a*; positive values = red and negative values = green) values than CONV (14.5) steaks.
For sensory attributes (0- to 120-point scale), no differences were observed for ORG
(71.3) and CONV (69.2) steers for overall consumer liking of the beef; however, the
GRS (56.3) steers had the lowest overall liking among beef consumers. The ORG (73.3)
steers had greater flavor liking than the GRS (56.8) and CONV (69.2) steers. Conversely,
the GRS (6.3) steers had the highest scores for off-flavor (0- to 20-point scale)
compared with the ORG (3.9) and CONV (4.1) steers. The results of the current study
suggest that a potential market may exist for organic grass-fed dairy steers in the
United States, but quality and consistency of the beef needs to be improved.
Key words
References
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: January 27, 2014
Accepted:
December 3,
2013
Received:
May 1,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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