Beef Nutritional Characteristics, Fat Profile and Blood Metabolic Markers from Purebred Wagyu, Crossbred Wagyu and Crossbred European Steers Raised on a Fattening Farm in Spain

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Beef cattle production has improved to achieve consumers’ preferences, including meat quality and human-health-related indexes. Wagyu (WY) breed is Japanese cattle with high intramuscular fat infiltration and rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Most Wagyu beef cattle are raised in Japan. Our objective was to describe Wagyu, Wagyu-by-Angus (Wangus, WN), and Angus-by-Charolaise-Limousine (ACL) beef produced in a Spanish fattening system with high-olein diets, regarding the fat profile, health-related indexes and the metabolic biomarkers prior to slaughtering. Blood lipid-related metabolites, except for non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and low-density level cholesterol (LDL), were higher in WY and WN than in ACL, while glucose was lower in WY and WN. Leptin was higher in WN than in ACL. Nutritional analyses showed higher fat infiltration in WY and WN steers than ACL animals for both meat cuts (sirloin and entrecote), including three-fold higher content. Wagyu beef had the highest intramuscular fat in sirloin (51.5% vs. 21.9%) and entrecote (59.6% vs. 27.6%) vs. ACL animals. Wagyu entrecote contained more unsaturated fatty acids (55.8% vs. 53.0%) and more oleic acids (47.5% vs. 43.3%) than ACL’ beef. Wagyu and WN entrecote showed better atherogenic (0.6 and 0.55 vs. 0.69), thrombogenicity (0.82 and 0.92 vs. 1.1), and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic index (1.9 and 2.1 vs. 1.7; all p < 0.001) than ACL’s beef. In brief, the fat profile and nutritional characteristics of beef depend on the fattening period, breed/crossbred, and cut of meat, with Wagyu and Wangus beef showing a healthier fat profile than ACL animals. ABSTRACT: A high intramuscular fat content characterizes Wagyu (WY) cattle breed. Our objective was to compare beef from WY, WY-by-Angus, or Wangus (WN) steers with European, Angus-by-Charolais-Limousine crossbred steers (ACL), considering metabolic biomarkers pre-slaughtering and nutritional characteristics, including health-related indexes of the lipid fraction. The fattening system with olein-rich diets and no exercise restriction included 82 steers, 24 WY, 29 WN, and 29 ACL. The slaughter ages and weights were (median and interquartile range) 38.4 mo.-old (34.9–40.3 mo.) and 840 kg (785–895 kg) for WY; for WN, 30.6 mo. (26.9–36.5 mo.) and 832 kg (802–875 kg), and for ACL steers, 20.3 mo.-old (19.0–22.7 mo.) and 780 kg (715–852 kg). Blood lipid-related metabolites, except for non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and low-density level cholesterol (LDL), were higher in WY and WN than in ACL, while glucose was lower in WY and WN. Leptin was higher in WN than in ACL. Pre-slaughtering values of plasma HDL underscored as a possible metabolic biomarker directly related to beef quality. The amino-acid content in beef did not differ among experimental groups, except for more crude protein in ACL. Compared to ACL, WY steers showed higher intramuscular fat in sirloin (51.5 vs. 21.9%) and entrecote (59.6 vs. 27.6%), more unsaturated fatty acids in entrecote (55.8 vs. 53.0%), and more oleic acid in sirloin (46 vs. 41.3%) and entrecote (47.5 vs. 43.3%). Compared to ACL entrecote, WY and WN showed better atherogenic (0.6 and 0.55 vs. 0.69), thrombogenicity (0.82 and 0.92 vs. 1.1), and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic index (1.9 and 2.1 vs. 1.7). Therefore, beef’s nutritional characteristics depend on breed/crossbred, slaughtering age and cut, with WY and WN entrecote samples showing a healthier lipid fraction.