Cholesterol levels and fatty acid profiles of beef from three cattle breeds raised on natural pasture

A study was conducted to compare cholesterol and fatty acid levels of beef from three cattle breeds raised on natural pasture. Thirty-four, twenty-nine and fourteen steers each of Nguni, Bonsmara and Angus, respectively, were slaughtered at 18 months. There were no (P > 0.05) breed differences for the cholesterol and intramuscular fat (IMF) levels. The fatty acid profiles were similar (P > 0.05) among the three breeds except that beef from Nguni steers had higher (P < 0.05) docosahexaenoic acid content than beef from the other two breeds while beef from Bonsmara steers had the highest (P < 0.05) heptadacenoic acid content. It can be concluded that there were no breed differences on cholesterol and most fatty acids.