Concentration of antioxidants in two muscles of mature dairy cows from Azores

•The prevalence of bioactive antioxidants in two muscles from dairy cows was evaluated.•The Gluteus medius showed higher antioxidants concentration than Longissimus dorsi.•Meat of dry-off cows showed greater antioxidant levels than lactating counterparts.•Carnosine was present in higher concentrations in Ld muscle.

This study evaluated the concentrations of α-tocopherol, β-carotene, creatine, carnosine, anserine and coenzyme Q10 in Longissimus dorsi (Ld) and Gluteus medius (Gm) muscles of culled dairy cows and the impact of age, production status before slaughter (dry-off vs lactating) and carcass weight on them. The effects of applying a finishing feeding regimen before slaughter were also examined. Gm muscle presented higher levels (P < 0.001) of α-tocopherol (5.14 vs 3.61 μg·g− 1) β-carotene (0.36 vs 0.27 μg·g− 1), anserine (59.24 vs 43.25 mg·100 g− 1) and coenzyme Q10 (3.33 vs 1.73 mg·100 g− 1), and by contrast lower (P < 0.05) creatine concentration (502.40 vs 527.28 mg·100 g− 1) than Ld. Dry-off and lactating cows differed significantly in α-tocopherol level (P < 0.001) but not in the concentrations of the other compounds (P > 0.05). The finishing feeding promoted higher mean concentrations of anserine and creatine but lower carnosine values (P > 0.05) than directly slaughtered dry-off cows. The variation between muscles and from animal-to-animal makes it difficult to exactly define the antioxidant status of the dairy cow's meat.