Fatty acid composition and sensory properties of Italian Simmental beef as affected by gene frequency of Montbéliarde origin

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Montbéliarde (Mb) gene frequency on fatty acid composition and sensory properties of Italian Simmental (IS) steaks (longissimus thoracis m.). Twenty-seven bulls belonging to three strains with different percentages of Mb genes: traditional (ISt), without Mb ascendants (ISt = 0% Mb genes), cross-strain (ISmt = 37.5–50% Mb genes), Montbéliarde strain (ISm = 87.5–100% Mb genes) and balanced for stearoyl Co-A desaturase genotype were considered. ISt has the highest C20:4 n−6 (P < 0.01), C22:4 n−6 (P < 0.05) and total PUFA n−3 level (P < 0.01), while ISt and ISmt have higher C18:3 n−3 (P < 0.05) and slightly lower MUFA (P = 0.08) than ISm. Sensory tests indicated that the three experimental groups can be differentiated; moreover, ISmt meat is perceived as less hard (P < 0.01), less chewable (P < 0.01) and less fibrous (P < 0.05) than ISt meat.