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

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 cowʹs meat.