Fatty Acid Composition, Lean Color and Drip Loss of the Different Muscles from Young Holstein Friesian Bulls Finished on Diets Containing Varied Proportions of Wet Sugar Beet Pulp and Wheat Straw

YUKSEL, S., L. TURGUT, M. YANAR, M. AKSU, G. KABAN and N. UNLU, 2011. Fatty acid composition, lean color and drip loss of the different muscles from young Holstein friesian bulls fi nished on diets containing varied proportions of wet sugar beet pulp and wheat straw. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 17: 696-703 The main purpose of this work is to determine meat quality attributes in 3 muscles of the Holstein Friesian bulls fed diets containing varied proportions of wet sugar beet pulp (SBP) and wheat straw. The 15 young bulls were divided into three diet groups. The control group was offered a mixture of wheat straw, dry alfalfa hay and dry meadow hay as roughage. The second and third diet groups were fed a similar mixture of roughage partially substituting wheat straw with wet SBP at levels of 4 % and 8% on a dry matter basis, respectively. Percentage of drip loss in control group was higher (P<0.01) than these in 4 % SBP and 8 % SBP diet groups (1.8 % vs. 1.6 % and 1.5 %). The lightness (L*) value was signifi cantly (P<0.01) decreased from 37.57 to 32.87 as a result of inclusion of SBP into the diets. However, redness (a*), yellowness, Chroma and Hue values signifi cantly were diminished by increasing the amount of SBP in the diet. Fatty acid composition was not signifi cantly infl uenced by the diets, but amount of C14:1 and C17:0 fatty acids available in longissimus dorsi, gluteus medius and quadriceps muscles were signifi cantly different. In conclusion, the inclusion of SBP into the diet at 8 % level improved percentage of drip loss and did not cause any adverse alteration of the fatty acid composition of the various beef muscles. However, a* and L* values of the beef decreased as a result of increasing amount of SBP in the diets.