Effect of dietary inclusion of triticale dried distillers' grain and oilseeds on quality and fatty acid profile of meat from feedlot steers

• Dietary oilseeds change beef fatty acid profile but not carcass or meat quality.
• Inclusion of triticale DDGS in feedlot diets altered beef fatty acid profile.
• Inclusion of flaxseed in feedlot diets increased weight% of 18:3n-3 in beef.
• Inclusion of triticale DDGS along with flaxseed further increased beef 18:3n-3.

This study compared carcass, meat quality and fatty acid profiles of longissimus thoracis (LT) from feedlot cattle fed barley grain with or without oilseed (OS). Six diets containing no oilseed (No-OS), 10% ground flaxseed (FS), 10% high oleate sunflower seeds (SS) with or without 30% triticale dried distiller's grain (DDGS) were prepared. Feeding DDGS increased chroma at 24 and 144 h post mortem. Feeding FS increased weight% of LT PUFA (P < 0.05) compared to No-OS or SS. An OS by DDGS interaction occurred for 18:3n − 3 (P < 0.05) where FS increased weight% of 18:3n − 3 (P < 0.05), a response accentuated (P < 0.05) by DDGS. Feeding DDGS increased weight% of LT 18:2n − 6 (P < 0.05), but neither OS nor DDGS affected conjugated linoleic acid (CLA, t7,c9 & c9,t11-18:2). Feeding FS increased weight% of n − 3 FA, and both FS and SS increased t10-18:1 with no effect on CLA or t11-18:1. Combination feeding of DDGS and FS further increased weight% of n − 3 FA and tempered increases in t10-18:1 with no effect on CLA or t11-18:1. The findings suggest a new strategy to increase beef omega-3 fatty acids efficiently through inclusion of a combination of DDGS and FS in feedlot diet.