Nutrient and fiber type relationships in Barrosã muscles

Fiber type and nutrient compositions from Biceps femoris (Bf), Longissimus dorsi (Ld) and Supraspinatus (Ss) muscles of 10 Barrosã calves were determined and the respective relationships investigated by principal component analysis (PCA). The Ss muscle had higher proportion of type IIA fibers than Bf (P < 0.001) and Ld (P < 0.01), higher percentage of oxidative fibers than Ld muscle (P < 0.01) and lower proportion of IIB fibers than Bf (P < 0.001) and Ld (P < 0.01). The latter muscle had higher intramuscular total lipids (ITL) (P < 0.01), neutral lipids (NL) (P < 0.01), C18:2c9t11-CLA (P < 0.001), saturated fatty acids (SFA) (P < 0.001), trans fatty acids (TFA) (P < 0.001) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (P < 0.01) contents than its counterparts. In contrast, Bf and Ss muscles had higher proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (P < 0.001), n-6 PUFA (P < 0.001), n-3 PUFA (P < 0.01), polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acids ratio (P/S) (P < 0.001) and hypocholesterolaemic/hypercholesterolaemic fatty acid ratio (h/H) (P < 0.001) than Ld muscle. The higher iron (P < 0.001) and phospholipids (PL) (P < 0.05) contents were found in Ss muscle. Cholesterol amount was unaffected by anatomical location and ranged from 0.50 to 0.54 mg/g. Barrosã muscles were not well distinguishable by PCA since, based on fiber and nutritional compositions, they did not clearly present different patterns. Barrosã-PDO veal is a low fat meat providing 367-558 mg of n-6 PUFA and 151-172 mg of n-3 PUFA of which 67-78 mg are EPA + DHA (based on 150 g consumption). The n-6/n-3 ratio was close to the recommended values for human diet and the P/S index was below those values.