Authors : Jose Luis de la Cruz Gamez, Jose A. Toca Ramirez, Esperanza Herrera Torres, Manuel Murillo Ortiz, Juan Ramon Esparza Rivera and Francisco O. Carrete Carreon
Abstract: The positive sensory and nutritious attributes of ruminant meat have been overshadowed in recent years by the perception involving a high contribution of saturated fat to the diet with negative health effects. However along with dairy products, beef has been the largest source of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) which could have several benefits for human health. This study evaluated in laboratory data from 50 beef samples taken at random from a beef slaughtering plant of Federal Inspection type (TIF) for CLA determination, using the Gas Chromatography method (GC), the impact of factors related to animals (feeding system, feed type, sex, age, breed and origin) on the CLA proportion in the longissimusdorsi muscle. Among these factors, only significant differences (p<0.05) were found for the origin of the animals in the proportion of CLA content in different places of origin. However, intrinsic factors (breed, age, sex and type of muscle) could modulate the CLA proportion in beef from 24-47%. The specific biological properties of these isomers should determine the understanding and consequences in the variations of intramuscular CLA isomers for health of consumers.
Jose Luis de la Cruz Gamez, Jose A. Toca Ramirez, Esperanza Herrera Torres, Manuel Murillo Ortiz, Juan Ramon Esparza Rivera and Francisco O. Carrete Carreon, 2014. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) in Samples of Beef and Factors That Affect. Agricultural Journal, 9: 103-107.