Fatty acid profile and carcass traits of feedlot Nellore cattle fed crude glycerin and virginiamycin

Abstract

Forty-eight bulls with an initial body weight (BW) of 408.4 ± 22.2 kg (age = 21 ± 2 months) were used in a randomized complete block design arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design. The treatments were diets without virginiamycin (VM-) or with virginiamycin, at 25 mg/kg of dry matter (DM, VM+), and diets without crude glycerin (CG-) or with crude glycerin, at 100 g/kg DM (CG+). The cold carcass weight and cold carcass dressing (P ≤ 0.05) was greater in bulls fed crude glycerin diets. Total unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) were 6.08% higher, and cooking weight loss was 10% lower in bulls fed CG+ diets, compared to bulls fed CG- diets (P = 0.0081). Crude glycerin at 100 g/kg DM could be a suitable replacement for VM, as it led to a slight increase in UFA deposition in meat. However, simultaneous administration of VM and CG did not positively affect performance and carcass traits of feedlot Nellore cattle.

Keywords: Beef cattle; Fatty acid profile; Feedlot; Glycerin; Meat quality; Virginiamycin.