Relationships of a Detailed Mineral Profile of Meat with Animal Performance and Beef Quality

SIMPLY SUMMARY: Minerals play direct or indirect role in different biological process of animals. These biological processes finally affect the meat quality. Therefore, analysis of minerals in cattle’s diet is important for assessing potential effects on beef quality. However, minerals profile and concentration in beef are affected by several factors such as animals rearing practices, age, environment, breed etc. Hence, we analyzed 20 minerals in 192 beef samples and studied the different sources of variation which affect the minerals profile in beef. In order to understand the complex and intriguing relations of beef qualities and minerals, we utilized correlation and factor analysis with 16 traits related to animal performance and beef quality. Our analysis shows many significant associations of minerals in beef with animal performance and beef qualities. Five groups of minerals (latent factors) were associated with almost all quality traits of beef. The knowledge about the mineral contents in beef is important to understand the complex interrelationships of animal rearing, farm management, environmental conditions with regard to animal performance and beef quality. ABSTRACT: The mineral profile of beef is a subject of human health interest, but also animal performance and meat quality. This study analyzes the relationships of 20 minerals in beef inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) with three animal performance and 13 beef quality traits analyzed on 182 samples of Longissimus thoracis. Animals’ breed and sex showed limited effects. The major sources of variation (farm/date of slaughter, individual animal within group and side/sample within animal) differed greatly from trait to trait. Mineral contents were correlated to animal performance and beef quality being significant 52 out of the 320 correlations at the farm/date level, and 101 out of the 320 at the individual animal level. Five latent factors explained 69% of mineral co-variation. The most important, “Mineral quantity” factor correlated with age at slaughter and with the beef color traits. Two latent factors (“Na + Fe + Cu” and “Fe + Mn”) correlated with performance and beef color traits. Two other (“K-B-Pb” and “Zn”) correlated with beef chemical composition and the latter also with carcass weight and daily gain, and beef color traits. Beef cooking losses correlated with “K-B-Pb”. Latent factor analysis appears be a useful means of disentangling the very complex relationships that the minerals in beef have with animal performance and beef quality traits.