Concentrations of creatine, creatinine, carnosine, and anserine in bovine longissimus muscle and their correlations with carcass and palatability traits

Creatine and carnosine have been considered as valuable nutraceuticals in meat products for a long time. Creatine as energy buffer plays an important role in cellular metabolism and shows protective effects in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Carnosine has multiple physiological functions associated with anti-oxidation and anti-aging. Although creatine and carnosine can be synthesized endogenously in human, studies show health benefits of creatine and carnosine supplementation. Because creatine and carnosine exist naturally only in animal muscle and brain tissues, meat is an important source of dietary creatine and carnosine. Few studies, however, have focused on beef creatine and carnosine contents and the factors influencing their concentrations. The objective of this study was to investigate the variation of creatine and carnosine contents in longissimus muscle of Angus cattle and their correlations with carcass and palatability traits. Longissimus muscle samples were collected from 2,342 Angus cattle fed in Iowa (n=1,114), Texas (n=455), Colorado (n=391), and California (n=382). Creatine, creatinine, carnosine, and anserine were extracted from beef and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The concentrations of these four compounds then were correlated with carcass and palatability traits including hot carcass weight (HCW), kidney pelvic heart (KPH) fat percentage, ribeye area, fat thickness, marbling score, calculated yield grade, sensory panel scores, Warner Bratzler shear force (WBSF), and thiobabituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Statistical analysis showed that the gender of cattle significantly (P < 0.05) affected the